Meet Jess
Hi! My name is Jess Arneson and I have lived in south Fargo with my husband Jered since 2013. You may recognize me as the happy lady with flour on her apron from Red River Coffee, where Jered and I were the hands-on owners and operators for the past eight years until selling it this past summer.
Prior to supplying Fargo with homemade treats and soups, my background was in community building as a macro-level social worker for local non-profit organizations and as a community volunteer.
Over the past twenty years I have served in numerous volunteer capacities for several organizations, boards, and committees including: Casselton Ambulance, West Cass Thrivent Financial Chapter Board, Generations Connecting Board, Eastern North Dakota ELCA Synod Hunger and Justice Committee, Creating a Hunger Free North Dakota Coalition Core Committee, Martins Lutheran Church Council in Casselton ND, and the Cass Clay Food Systems Advisory Commission.
I am running for the State Senate seat for District 46 because we must do more to take care of the people who take care of people! Our hard working teachers, nurses, care takers of disabled people, and child care providers need our help. They are critically understaffed, overworked and underpaid, many working second or third jobs and double shifts to meet their basic needs.
We can – and MUST – address the ongoing widespread workforce shortages in healthcare, childcare, vulnerable adult care, and education in our communities.
I am running for the State Senate because this winter I lost my fourth neighbor in 11 years to addiction. Because since we’ve lived here, several high school students in our community have lost their lives to suicide. Because during my time serving on a rural ambulance squad, we were called to countless suicide attempts, and because too many people I know have lost loved ones to suicide.
Mental health and addiction are widespread issues that transcend age, income, and party lines and addressing them are key to keeping our communities healthy, stable, and safe; something that we all value as North Dakotans.
People in crisis cannot wait weeks (sometimes MONTHS) for access to mental health and/or addiction treatment services. We can – and MUST – improve the capacity, access, and outcomes of these vital services and ensure that they are available at appropriate levels to meet the dire needs throughout our state.
I am running for the State Senate because it is time to end the divisiveness that has taken over our political scene and bring the focus back towards accomplishing shared goals that unify us as North Dakotans.
And last but not least, I am running for the State Senate because I LOVE North Dakota and am dedicated to doing whatever I can to make it the best it can be for ALL of us!