Urban Rural Action is a national nonprofit that brings diverse groups of people together to build relationships and address issues in their communities.
In Oregon, the group is focusing on housing and homelessness in Josephine, Jackson, Douglas and Klamath Counties.
The program relies on volunteers: small groups of local residents who then work with community organizations to create solutions.
"It's really about kind of the combination of the relationship building and how that can create change in a community by bringing people together that might not normally work together, know each other, talk to each other, who have different opinions, and then really come together on a community project to create change," said Jenny Seward, co-director of the Oregon program, which is called Uniting for Action on Housing and Homelessness in Southern Oregon.
In each of the four counties, there will be a group of about six community volunteers, as well as a county coordinator from Urban Rural Action and a representative from a local community partner.
"They look at a problem, and they look at the causes and the effects," said Maree Beers, co-director of the Oregon program. "As a group, they come up with a project that's going to address one of the causes of the problem."
The community partner acts as a subject matter expert, helping guide the project.
The program is still searching for volunteers in Josephine and Douglas Counties. Participants will receive a $500 stipend for their time. The program runs from April until November and involves a series of group meetings. Anyone over the age of 18 is welcome to apply by Mar. 31.
"The idea is we take people out of isolation, out of their echo chambers online, and really get people in the communities getting to know each other and doing work with one another," Seward said.
Once the volunteers and community partners have been finalized in each county, the groups will discuss which local solution they would like to pursue regarding housing and homelessness. Each project will receive $5,000 from Urban Rural Action to complete it.
For the past two years, the group has focused on economic development and included projects such as a community garden and a driver’s education program.
"The pivot to housing and homelessness was kind of a direct response to what we were hearing in the communities as we were working down there last year," Beers said. "There's just more conversation that's been happening around the homeless and houseless community and crisis."
