Community dinners are back!
Prior to 2020, NWHF hosted regular in-person gatherings to get to know community members throughout Oregon better, but the pandemic put an abrupt end to the tradition. While we are in no way out of the woods with COVID-19, we fortunately feel safe enough to gather in person and break bread again.
As we brainstormed about bringing back our practice of community dinners, we discussed some of the geographic areas in our service district we would like to spend more time in–the ones we know the least about. At the top of that list: Clackamas County.
Of our 10 staff members, no one lives in Clackamas County, and no one grew up in Clackamas County. And none of our board members currently live there. The list of what we don’t know about this community is long.
A few fun facts about Clackamas County:
It is the third most populous county in the state.
There are 14 incorporated cities in Clackamas County as compared to six in Multnomah and eleven in Washington.
Clackamas County was named for the Clackamas peoples who live along the Clackamas River in Willamette Valley.
Oregon City, Clackamas County’s seat, was the first capital of Oregon, the site of the first legislative session and the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains.
With the goal of building relationships and getting to know Clackamas County better, earlier this month we hosted 20 community leaders who work and/or live in Clackamas County.
A few highlights from the dinner:
We discussed one of the unique problems facing Clackamas County. In Clackamas, county commissioners are elected county-wide instead of by zones/districts like in other counties. This brings several challenges, including making candidate outreach harder and smaller communities struggling to make their voices heard at the decision-making table.
We discussed how the size of the county results in challenges, including difficulty connecting (literally and figuratively) across cities, towns and unincorporated areas. Building community and electoral infrastructure across such a large geography is no easy task and takes a lot of resources.
We reflected on safety for local BIPOC candidates, many sharing that running for office puts them and their families at risk and makes the opportunity a no-go.
We look forward to staying in touch with everyone who attended the dinner, and we hope the leaders who attended will continue to connect with one another. We see it as a good sign that attendees asked to share their contact information with each other.
Much appreciation to everyone who made this dinner possible! We look forward to our next community dinner in Vancouver, WA in 2024.