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What am I doing? Seriously -- How did I end up here? It's really weird to be sharing this project with the whole of Cameron County. (Ok, well not yet, but that's the goal.)
....So here it goes.... My journey to this point starts a year ago. You see, I was one of those Complainers. You know who I'm talking about. I would complain about decisions being made by ANYONE because I disagreed based on what I thought I knew about the decision. I was educated on the Emporium Rumor Mill, a minimal amount of reading the Echo, BUT I was WELL-VERSED on the comment sections of my friends' Facebook shared news snip-its. *Some of you may have seen my work there* Last year, I finally came to the conclusion that I couldn't keep complaining about Emporium, because I really didn't know what was going on, and I needed to change that. If I was going to be complaining, I wanted to really know what I was complaining about.... It all boiled down to to one... simple... truth... I knew what I didn't know, and I wanted to find out what I needed to know. So I started attending community meetings. Township Meetings, Commissioner Meetings, School Board Workshop Meetings. I applied for Leadership Elk and Cameron and completed the program. I started cold emailing the people in the community I admired in search of mentors. That lead to the ability to join Rotary (what I thought was the epitome of a classic Cameron County Club) Then, I threw myself at different organizations and landed a Board Position with Sylvan Heritage Council (Literally, because their first ever Pork & Cork was SO MUCH FUN! -- I knew I wanted to be around those kind of people.) And do you know what I found??? REALLY GREAT PEOPLE. Lots of the them. Who were really happy someone my age was interested in what they were doing. (Who Knew?!) I found out that I was wrong about A LOT of what I thought I knew. I found out that the more I asked questions, the more open people where with me. I found out that our local clubs and boards and elected officials are searching for people that want to participate and I was welcomed to EVERYTHING, warmly. I want that for EVERYONE. I want you each to experience the Emporium I now know and am continuing to learn about. That's not all. I want the Emporium that is a great and safe place to live and play. Where people can not only work here, but thrive. Where residents aren't bored or feeling like it is NEVER going to get better. The Cameron County Project is my attempt to help Emporium build the bridges it needs to correct resident perceptions by bringing us all together on what we can agree upon.... *Drum Roll Please* What we LOVE about living here. Here is the deal, though, and its pretty huge deal: I need your help to do it -- because what I think is best, isn't what you think is best. The Cameron County Community Chest graciously agreed to partner with me. This project is meant to encourage us all to share our stories about our home. Because the Heart of this community resides in each of us, and when I find it... I'm going to SCREAM IT FROM THE ROOF TOPS (Ok. Not Really...) But I am going to use it to bring people together. I'm going to use it to show people the great things here. I'm going to use it in every positive way, anyone can come up with, to bring the change Cameron County so desperately deserves. So Please, Help a Girl out....and like the Facebook page, take the Post Card Home Survey and join my community. I'm not stopping until I reach every one of you and I could use some help.* Kind regards from your neighbor, Jess*
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