TWST Blog

Talent, OR

Tucked between Medford and Ashland, Talent was our last stop in Jackson County. It has a population of 5,589 and was incorporated in 1910, but was homesteaded by early settlers in 1852.

There were 33 individuals in attendance at the Talent meeting, some of whom were representing multiple groups. We found the diversity and complexity among the projects the groups are taking on to be astounding. In a group setting of this size, it is often difficult to address everyone’s questions; in this instance many of the groups voiced similar concerns making the process beneficial for most everyone in attendance.

We met in Talent at the Community Center, which is adjacent to the new library and the Talent Museum and Historical Society. The positioning of these three buildings tells a story of their own; the Museum building is actually the old library—history in the making. One of the individuals in attendance at the meeting is a" Friend of the Talent Library" and board member for the “Historical Society". With assistance from the Meyer Memorial Trust, the library was built and opened its doors a year ago, but faced closure two weeks later due to the loss of key funds.

The Talent community was the third community in Jackson County to share their concerns regarding the status of the Libraries due to the loss of ONC funding. The library reduced operation hours to 16 per week as a result of losing the ONC funds. Talent has since been successful in passing a library ballot that has reaped in the financial support to extend the library hours from 16 to 36. What we have seen is that the libraries in southern Oregon are much more than a place to come read. Libraries are often the center of the community and a place where people can come and interact with one another. The Talent library is representative of this, with a park nestled between the library and museum, this hub serves a great purpose in the community. It is not clear to us if the Jackson County system consist of 13 or 15 libraries, we have received conflicting accounts, but what is clear is that the system as a whole can not function properly if the branches can’t find an inclusive and sustainable solution to the funding challenges they all face.

The dialogue for sustainable community programs began well before our arrival; it will be interesting to see where these discussions land.

Cave Junction, OR

Josephine County

We have left Applegate Valley and are now heading west through the beautiful Illinois Valley to get to Cave Junction. The roads are lined with amazing Madrone trees. These trees shed their bark and, depending on the season, they reveal a green or rusty orange underlining. We photographed one earlier in the week in Ruch, and learned today that, “the Madrone only grows where it wants to grow."

Cave Junction is a scenic, small town of 1,225 residents about 30 miles southwest of Grants Pass. Cave Junction is considered the "Home of the Oregon Caves". Visitors come from around the world travel to the Illinois Valley to see the unique geologic phenomena.

We arrived at the Illinois Valley Family Coalition with no time to spare: translation we were late. In fact, Jan Taylor, the Community Mobilization Director at the United Way of Jackson County, started the meeting for us. I need to do a little bird walk here to explain that Jan attended this meeting in Josephine County because the United Way of Josephine County has closed and services will now be provided from Jan’s office to both counties. Back to our meeting.

There were 14 in attendance at this gathering and like the other meetings we quickly learned that many of the people around the table wear multiple hats in the community. Although the projects vary greatly, it is interesting to note that the majority of the organizations either engaged or affect youth in their programming and outreach. Over the course of our conversation we learned that there are very limited resources for youth in Cave Junction. This creates a constant challenge to keep youth engaged but also to identify appropriate activities, with little funding. We learned that the Boys and Girls Club has been instrumental in serving youth in the community, whereas the Illinois Valley Headstart has provided resources for younger children.

Thanks for following along with us on the road! We have more stops in much more of Oregon to come! - Kim Sheng and Sally Yee

Commenting on this Blog entry is closed.