Last week, Stacie and I found ourselves in a SE Yakima garden surrounded by fruit trees grafted into creative varieties, flowers, strolling/strutting (cat/rooster) animals and lovely, shaded sitting spots.  We were there to meet with Carole Folsom-Hill, Executive Director of La Casa Hogar and current candidate for Position 7 on the Yakima City Council.  Stacie has known Carole for a couple of years, but this was my first opportunity to visit with her.  And I loved every second–2 hours passed in what seemed like a matter of minutes.

Why?  Because Carole Folsom-Hill is a person driven by a deep desire to listen, to understand and to impact.  Her career is a glimpse into this drive:  beginning as a community health educator, she went back to school for her Master’s and then to work for Mental Health Services (now Central Washington Comprehensive Mental Health).  Carole worked as a mental health therapist, worked for Neighborhood Services (City of Yakima) engaging citizens in the planning process, ventured out as a small business owner for several years and following more schooling, as a case manager at New Hope Clinic, working with AIDS patients.

And then a new opportunity–Carole was asked to join La Casa Hogar, an organization in her neighborhood dedicated to “building a foundation for growth and empowerment through healthy kids, healthy moms, healthy families, healthy schools, and healthy community.”  At that point, unable to speak Spanish, Carole wasn’t sure she was the one for the job.  But she did realize that through many, many years of community work, she understood the culture, and maybe, just maybe, this was the place for her.  And in her words, after 13 years as Executive Director, La Casa represents “the coming together of all of me.”

So why city council now?

Because after “years of experience building to this place, it was time to pay attention and to follow what comes.“  Carole described this coming together, her internal instincts matching what is inside her head–a calling.  And after years of impacting her work, her family, her neighborhood, she is more than ready and would like to bring a different perspective to the council:

• she lives in SE Yakima and has for over 30 years–it is her home
• she speaks regularly with the homeless, understanding the needs of the least fortunate among us
• she works with the immigrant community
• she is an advocate for voice, accessibility, services and opportunities for jobs, education, HOPE

And what is her goal for the council?  To come up with a “viable, hopeful, realistic vision” that includes:

• building bridges between communities
• becoming a healthy Yakima, thriving and enterprising
• offering clean, beautiful neighborhoods
• supporting our youth (“The youth are the responsibility of the whole community”)
• providing an environment where children can thrive
• providing intervention for children to circumvent gang involvement (Carole is part of the Gang Free Initiative committee)
• providing support for parents
• creating an active and healthy community–more walking paths, bike paths, innovative public transportation

And how will this happen?

Carole would like to see city council go to the people:  getting out there, making a connection!  Listening & helping people have a voice.  Supporting “visioning leaders who the community will follow.”

There is no doubt Carole Folsom-Hill is kind; she is compassionate, she is giving.  And she is equally brilliant and driven.  She has made (beautiful, big) waves and will continue to because we will not get better if we don’t change our approach.  And change, though it fills some with uneasiness, is the very thing that we need to become what we know we can be.

As we talked, Carole spoke often of her “passion for the neighborhood.“  There is no doubt that this drives her every day.  Some of the things Carole said continue to echo through my mind:

• “Listening works magic”
• “. . . facilitating collaboration and connecting communities”
• “The youth are the responsibility of the whole community”
• “Provide an environment where children can thrive”

And so I think two things:  How will I help make this Yakima?  &  Where is my ballot?

Time to vote.