Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Latinos, loggers and old hippies : rural revitalization in the Pacific Northwest

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/1r66j309v

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  • This ethnography looks at the processes a rural Oregon community is undergoing as some members attempt to re-animate the community by creating a community center after the loss of its school and market, two vital services that provided venues for social interaction and engagement. The methodology for this research includes ethnographic interviews and coding, with grounded theory analysis. Triangulation was conducted with participant observation and analysis of pre-existing data. This research project draws from a participatory action research (PAR) methodology to generate relevant and accessible information (Whyte 1991). This revitalization project is led primarily by women who draw on varied professional and service-oriented backgrounds to seek funding, plan the project, and run the day-to-day operations of the Community Center. Though this project is led by a long-standing group of community leaders, two important community groups were excluded from the planning process. The Board failed to reach out to low-income Anglo and Latino/a community members in the planning process. This omission led to a diminished user and supporter base for the Community Center and precluded expanded funding opportunities for the project. Interviews with members of the Latina community provided a picture of a group of women equally determined to achieve their goals. These mothers perceived many of the same needs that other community members did, such as the need for youth services, childcare, and transportation. But they had the added burdens of language and exclusion which created further barriers to what they considered advancement. Low-income Anglo informants produced the same perceptions of need, but also provided a rich view of rural subsistence strategies and lifestyles. Low-income Anglo families did not feel as excluded from the Center's planning and activities, but they were still isolated by lack of transportation. Their exclusion was mainly by choice rather than due to the barriers which precluded Latina participation. After analysis of interviews and board/community interactions, I developed a list of recommendations for the Alpine Community Center Board. My recommendations to the Board are as follows: • Create Services for Latino/a residents. • The Board should pursue funding targeted to underserved populations. • Expand offerings for youth. • The Board should actively pursue methods of providing transportation to the center. • Seek means of improving leadership capacity of the Board through seminars, publications and associations with learning institutions and local professionals. • Target outreach to underserved populations in order to invite participation in planning meetings and raise the level of community engagement. Some of my recommendations have been implemented by the Board as it continues to plan the project and operate the Center, though the Board still has a ways to go toward full inclusion of diverse community members. My findings regarding rural Latino/a and low income Anglo subsistence strategies and lifestyles have the potential to add to the body of knowledge regarding rural life and rural community revitalization.
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