Dear ROPnet,
The 2025 Rural Caucus & Strategy Session is one month away, and we are counting the days until we get to see you all on the weekend of April 26th in Baker City. The early bird registration deadline has been extended to tomorrow, Friday, March 28th, so check out some of what the Caucus has to offer below, and register your group today!
Please note that we are offering scholarships, coordinating interpretation, carpools, childcare, community housing, and more, so please let us know how we can support you and your group coming to the Caucus!
4 reasons why you want to be at this year’s Caucus (in no particular order):
#1: Be in community to make sense of this moment
We won’t mince words: This moment is scary. We’re fighting for our rights and our lives, and we don’t know exactly what the future holds. What we do know is that our resistance must be rooted in building a bigger we and strengthening our bonds. We know that just showing up and being connected is deeply strategic. We know that the same things that will help us survive in crisis will help us build the world we want to live in. That’s why the theme of this year’s Caucus is “The Ways Through”; because together we can begin to envision what’s on the other side. Join over 100 inspiring, badass rural Oregon change-makers on the weekend of April 26th to start to map those ways through.
#2: Regional connections
Lately, we’ve been talking a lot about various pathways of resistance, and we know that as our communities continue to be systematically under-resourced, we’ll need the pathway of “Building Alternatives” more than ever. During the Caucus, we’ll have the opportunity to break into regional groups and do some concrete scenario planning about what we’ll need to continue to do to take care of each other and decrease isolation in specific moments of crisis. We’ll also do some “asset mapping” where we will identify the relationships and resources we have access to in our communities.
#3: Draw from movement resources
I don’t have all the answers for how we will get through this, but together, we just might. That “we” isn’t just the 100+ people who will be gathering over the weekend. That “we” includes all of our movement ancestors, mentors, and peers who each of us will bring into the space. Throughout the weekend, we’ll be pooling our collective experiences, resources, and perspectives so that each of us leaves feeling more prepared to take on whatever comes next. We know that folks are eager to build up core organizing skills like de-escalation and rapid response, so we’ll have multiple training spaces throughout the weekend. There’s also talk of a community organizing book exchange, a wall of movement ancestors, and more!
#4: Recharge and rejuvenate!
We’re spending the full weekend together for this year’s Caucus because we’ve heard loud and clear from leaders like you around the state that not only do we have a lot to figure out, but we also need space and time to just be together, build relationships, fill our cups, and move at a pace that allows us to take care of one another and stay in this work for the long haul. We have been living in a constant storm of overlapping crises for years now. We strive to make this Caucus a shelter from that storm.
What are you hoping to get out of the Caucus this year? Let us know, and register here ASAP as seats are filling up quickly! Please let us know if you or your group could use a scholarship, travel support, or anything else to get to the Caucus this year.
Warmly,
Sidra and the ROP team
