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The very first column I wrote for the Pioneer described my search for a tree in Bemidji. In discovering that tree I hoped to find a sense of belonging in a new city.

I had only just started writing for the newspaper six months prior, in what was my first real job after graduating from university. I was nervous, and trying to find my footing so far away from my friends and family.

Well, I found that tree, and I also found a home.

Bemidji crept into my heart, at times so quietly I hardly knew what was happening. Its people, its sense of community, the good, the bad and the ugly all tied together — I couldn’t stop loving it if I tried.

Now, as I’m sitting down to write my last column, I want to emphasize that while I am leaving the Pioneer, I won’t be leaving Bemidji.

As my last day approaches in mid-June, it’s hard not to think about the last two and a half years: what Bemidji has gone through and what changes I’ve seen in myself. We’ve been through a lot together, this city, this community and I.

One of the first major stories I covered was about the deteriorating conditions at Ridgeway Courts 1 and 2, where tenants felt abandoned by their landlords as squatters took over entire sections of the buildings.

Local

City responds to precarious conditions at Ridgeway Court apartments in Bemidji, tenant shares experiences

Ever since the neighboring apartment building was condemned, residents in Ridgeway Courts I and II have been living in uncertainty. They know that the conditions of their buildings are not good: apartments lie abandoned, squatters drift in and out, windows are missing and broken. Everywhere they look there are signs of neglect and damage. With how bad everything has gotten, many of the residents have been expecting their buildings to be next.

Dec 31, 1969

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By  Nicole Ronchetti

It was the first time I felt I had come into my own as a journalist. I remember typing furiously, desperate to find the right words to tell the residents’ stories. I was angry at the situation, at the impossibility of a response that wouldn’t result in the remaining families becoming homeless.

Just one year later Bemidji would go through another housing emergency, as the residents of Red Pine Estates were ordered to vacate their homes in less than a week. The evening after they got the news, I was invited to sit outside with the residents, and I listened to their frustrations and uncertainty.

Once again I found myself pouring my heart and soul into an article outlining their experiences, and over the following days, I covered the community response as volunteers and nonprofits raised money and made sure each resident had somewhere to go.

Local

Residents evacuated from Red Pine Estates

Community members and local businesses have been aiding residents of Red Pine Estates in Bemidji with packing and moving, and are asking for more volunteers and donations.

Dec 31, 1969

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By  Nicole Ronchetti

During my time at the Pioneer, I’ve covered so much more than these two stories, including wonderful and happy news. But I highlight these examples because they’re the ones that have pushed me the hardest toward where I’ll be going next.

Covering the news in Bemidji, this place that I now consider home has made me realize that I don’t just want to write the headlines. I want to change them for the better.

I’ve seen the good that our city’s nonprofits do in Bemidji, the ways that they touch the lives of the people they serve in a way that ripples out to the entire community. So when an unexpected opportunity came to work for one of these nonprofits, I decided to take it.

That means I’ll be leaving the Pioneer to take a job with the Boys and Girls Club, where I can have a more direct impact on the community and the lives of the people within it. I’ll be writing grants and working between Bemidji and Blackduck as I help the organization establish its new location.

This city has become my home, and I’m looking forward to fully investing myself in its future through this new role, and hopefully changing its outcomes for the better.