The Oregon Rural-Urban Project: Help Us Bridge the Divide
Tax deductible
Dear Friends,
We care about you... and we care about Oregon - and we need your help. There is a vexing problematic Rural/Urban divide in Oregon. Rural and Urban Oregonians live different lives, and have different experiences - in all sorts of ways. Too often there is little mutual understanding and even less constructive dialogue to help bridge this divide.
In rural Oregon - from ranching and farming, to forestry and indigenous concerns; rural citizens do not feel heard or respected in our state capital in Salem. The problem is so profound that some Oregonians would like to defect from Oregon and become part of Idaho.
We at The Oregon Rural-Urban Project (ORUP) are addressing this issue, and we need your help. ORUP is an initiative of Oregon Braver Angels, which is a part of the national Braver Angels, a non-partisan, nonprofit organization working to depolarize America. As part of Braver Angels, Oregon; the Oregon rural urban project is focused on healing the rural urban divide.
Here is our no-nonsense result-oriented approach:
We are reaching out to Oregonians across the state to learn how they view the current political climate and how effectively their needs are being met. This effort involves extensive personal outreach including contact with community leaders, churches, political parties, fraternal organizations, volunteer organizations and presentation of Townhall meetings. A lot of listening going on…
Following our outreach and Townhall meetings we will host a series of moderated discussions where equal numbers of rural and urban delegates will get together for a full day of discussion and brainstorming. Delegates will identify mutually agreeable suggestions for bridging the rural-urban divide.
The project will conclude with a report submitted to the governor, state legislature, and available publicly.
Friends, we are trying something entirely new. We are providing an opportunity for “We the People” to share thoughts and opinions, and develop suggestions for addressing this challenging problem. Our goal is to complete this work by fall 2027.
We need your help for this important work. We are able to host Townhall meetings for about $1000 each and we estimate that the moderated discussions will cost about $10,000 each. We are busy writing grant-requests and we have received some funding. But we also need help from citizens like you.
Please help us out in any way that you can. In addition to financial support, we are also looking for volunteers with a wide variety of skills, and you do not need to live in Oregon to lend a hand.
Thank you - the volunteer team at ORUP
Organizer
Will Harris
Organizer
New York, NY
Braver Angels
Beneficiary