Page 38 RAIN Oct./Nov. 1983 RAINMAKERS: Where Are They Now? by Ann Borquist Rainmakers. We're drawn to the old green house on Irving Street because we share a particular set of values, a hopeful vision for the future, and a desire to nurture that vision into maturity. Over the past nine years, dozens of us have joined hearts and typewriters to gather, sift, and share information on the tools and ideas everyone can use to build more self-reliant, just, and ecologically sound communities. Rainmakers are a visionary bunch though, and sooner or later, a person focuses on a new picture, a new thread that can be woven into the picture to make it stronger and more beautiful. They leave RAIN and walk a different path. On the other hand, some Rainmakers give us so much that they "give out." They leave RAIN to recuperate. We want to share with you information we've gathered about where some of the Rainmakers are now. What are they doing? How have they woven the RAIN vision into their lives? Several folks have headed toward service with local or national government. They are brid^ng the gap between the cutting fringe and the mainstream ... Tom Bender and Lane deMoll (editors, 1975-79), moved to Nehalem on the Oregon coast. Tom has been elected to the local water board and is helping his community to match its growth patterns to its resources----Phil Conti (editor, 1978-79) is the guiding force for Southeast Uplift, a neighborhood information and assistance center in southeast Portland.... Anne McLaughlin (business manager, 1975-77) interprets zoning regulations to local residents in her work as a city planner for the Portland Planning Bureau. As a member of the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Coalition, she coordinated the logistics for the Euro-missile Rally on October 22nd.... Plaruung the future is the focus of Steve Ames' (editor. 1978- 79) work. He has helped hundreds of Portland's civic leaders to create their own vision of the future and move toward it___From a drug education pro^am (for parents as well as their kids) to work with the City Planning Commission, Bruce Borquist (Resource Center staff member, 1982) uses his community organizing skills to help groups in Gladstone, Oregon, identify, plan, and carry out the tasks they set for themselves.... Laura Stuchinsky (magazine/Resource Center staffer, 1980-82) now works as a citizen advocate in the Portland office of Congressman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Some former staff members transferred their skills and energy to appropriate technology programs funded by federal or state government... Western SUN, a federally funded renewable energy information center, drew upon the experience of two Rainmakers, Lee Johnson (editor, 1974-78), and Becky Banyas-Koach (magazine promotion manager, 1980). Both lost their positions in 1982 when Western SUN was abolished under Reagan administration cutbacks ... Two other Rainmakers, John Ferrell (editor/information specialist, 1979-82; guest editor, 1983), and Gigi Coe (guest editor, 1977; co-editor with Lane deMoll of Stepping Stones in 1978) joined the ranks of the California Office of Appropriate Technology (Cal-OAT). Both lost their positions earlier this year when Cal-OAT was dismantled by the new California governor. Gigi continues to work on a.t.-related issues, e.g., co-authoring a book on home energy for the Sierra Club. She describes her work as having the "same theme" as when she worked with RAIN—"empowering people to take better care of themselves and the world." Rainmakers face the same challenge as any other teacher/preachers: How can they live lives that reflect the values they espouse? ... The goal for Tom Bender Jlii
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