- An Alliance For Community Action
- (970) 256-7650
- info@WesternColoradoAlliance.org
Garfield County Quarterly Newsletter: March, 2024
Welcome to the March 2024 newsletter of Western Colorado Alliance of Garfield County!
GarCo youth are ready to represent
West Slope Youth Voice (WSYV) is expanding into Garfield County! WSYV is a non-partisan civic engagement program for youth on the Western Slope. The group has been active for years in Mesa County, and in January, the first step was taken to activate the program locally. Participating students from Mesa County traveled to Rifle and met with interested peers from Garfield County to share what the program is all about at the Youth Action Summit. The Summit included a presentation by the Mesa students, sharing thoughts around legislation that’s been introduced during the current legislative session on how it impacts youth and a robust question and answer session between the students. While youth stand to be impacted for the greatest length of time by current legislative decisions, they are one of the most underrepresented demographics of our society. Connecting across geographies and working together is one-way youth can build power. The annual WSYV program cycle starts at the beginning of summer. If you’d like to know more about this youth-led program, please reach out to Jeriel Clark-Dyar at jeriel@westerncoloradoalliance.org.
GarCo youth are ready to represent
West Slope Youth Voice (WSYV) is expanding into Garfield County! WSYV is a non-partisan civic engagement program for youth on the Western Slope. The group has been active for years in Mesa County, and in January, the first step was taken to activate the program locally. Participating students from Mesa County traveled to Rifle and met with interested peers from Garfield County to share what the program is all about at the Youth Action Summit. The Summit included a presentation by the Mesa students, sharing thoughts around legislation that’s been introduced during the current legislative session on how it impacts youth and a robust question and answer session between the students. While youth stand to be impacted for the greatest length of time by current legislative decisions, they are one of the most underrepresented demographics of our society. Connecting across geographies and working together is one-way youth can build power. The annual WSYV program cycle starts at the beginning of summer. If you’d like to know more about this youth-led program, please reach out to Jeriel Clark-Dyar at jeriel@westerncoloradoalliance.org.
Guest Column: Rob Dolan on the launch of our Alliance in Garfield County
Rob Dolan of Silt, CO has been a member of Western Colorado Alliance since 1980.
I took the opportunity to participate in a community engagement session last month hosted by Western Colorado Alliance of Garfield County, in Rifle. The event was well attended by residents who represented Garfield County’s diverse population.
I’m not a stranger to these types of gatherings. I’ve been fortunate to be part of Western Colorado Alliance (formerly Western Colorado Congress) since the ’80s, and I have witnessed firsthand the power of local communities to facilitate positive change through education, organized campaign development, and community participation.
This meeting wasn’t designed primarily to relay information but rather encouraged conversations, feedback, and input from the participants on systemic hurdles that present challenges to experiencing a successful and productive life in Western Colorado. Attendees engaged in discussions with the goal of prioritizing issues that would offer the greatest opportunity for making a measurable change to better the population of Garfield County.
It’s not a simple process and the work can be messy as reaching consensus is not often a linear journey. It involves not only speaking your mind but actively listening to the opinions of others. For the attendees, the issues were very personal; their presence was not necessary to participate in just an educational lesson in discourse but to reach a consensus with other attendees about how to prioritize and begin the process of making change from a grassroots level up.
The power of people to facilitate change in their lives is one of our most fundamental rights in our democracy. By being an active part of the change process, we gain both confidence and skills to be successful in confronting what currently presents a challenge, but also by proactively being a part of creating a future.
Our future can’t only be accomplished from top-down mandates or legislated fixes created by our elected officials. It is our responsibility as Garfield County residents to identify, inform, organize, and act collectively to bring about change that benefits our residents. Western Colorado Alliance of Garfield County can assist us with the skills to accomplish what we identify as needing change, but it is up to each of our local residents to support and power that collective effort for the good of all.
Social media alert
Follow Western Colorado Alliance of Garfield County on Facebook! In addition to our local newsletter, we also have a new Facebook page dedicated to our Alliance’s work in Garfield County. By following the page, you’ll stay up-to-date on our local campaigns and events, as well as news and events hosted by other organizations doing good work across our valleys. Click here to check out our Facebook page and share with your friends!
What’s next? Elections and organizing training
Our Alliance has a milestone on the horizon. Members will be electing our local leadership team soon! Keep an eye out for an email detailing the elected positions we’re looking to fill and announcing the election meeting date. All local dues-paying members in our Alliance can vote, so be sure to check your membership status. If you’d like to support grassroots organizing and become a member, click here. And contact Hanna Arauza at hanna@westerncoloradoalliance.org if you have any questions or are interested in running for a leadership position.
And in April, we’ll be offering a free workshop on the fundamentals of community organizing. The Power to Win (POWW) Workshop will take place on Saturday, April 20. This is a half-day workshop that covers topics such as exploring why we organize, understanding forms of power, problems vs. issues, and campaign planning. Stay tuned for complete workshop details and instructions on how to register!
Hanna worked as a geologist in the environmental industry for a decade before shifting her professional focus to community organizing. A huge fan of hiking and camping, she is always happiest outdoors. Her love of nature led to her studies and career in Earth science, but more recently she decided that she could better serve broad environmental interests, such as extractive industry practices, renewable energy, water conservation, and sustainable agriculture, by getting involved with her local community. She is excited for the opportunity to connect with people in Garfield County and help bring the various voices of the community together to create change that benefits all residents and preserves the beautiful Western Slope. In her free time she loves exploring new trails, gardening, and chasing around her two young children.