The Oregon Community Foundation Announces $9 Million Awarded to Oregon Nonprofits


Share this article! In November, The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) Board of Directors approved more than $9 million in grants to nonprofits around Oregon. The organizations that received funding include those supporting arts and culture, economic vitality, education, health and well-being, and community livability, and countless organizations working to narrow the opportunity gap children in … Read more

In November, The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) Board of Directors approved more than $9 million in grants to nonprofits around Oregon. The organizations that received funding include those supporting arts and culture, economic vitality, education, health and well-being, and community livability, and countless organizations working to narrow the opportunity gap children in Oregon face. Hacienda Community Development Corporation is among the organizations to receive funding with a $60,000 grant to support the Expresiones program that works to build successful students by focusing on academic support, personal enrichment and parent involvement.

Additionally, Adelante Mujeres received $60,000 to build a health clinic and homeless youth program facility in the Rosewood neighborhood of East Multnomah County, where need for services has grown.

“We are proud to partner with many extraordinary organizations to strengthen communities and improve life for all Oregonians,” said President and CEO Max Williams. “But we need to do more. In Oregon, many children of color, and rural and low-income children don’t have the same opportunities to learn and thrive as other children do – with life-long consequences. Organizations such as Adelante Mujeres are working to help close that opportunity gap.”

In addition to those previously mentioned, grants awarded during the recent fall grant cycle include the following:
•    Arts in Education of the Gorge, Hood River; $40,720 to improve Arts in Education of the Gorge’s STEM-TO-STEAM program that provides positive youth development through STEM infused arts programming to underserved middle school students in Wasco and Hood River counties.
•    Beaverton Education Foundation, Beaverton; $40,000 to improve the Safe and Sound 4 Student Success program, which targets low-income, at-risk middle school students in Washington County through after-school academic and athletic activities.
•    Chelsea Hicks Foundation, Tualatin; $25,000 to support therapeutic play programs for children with serious illnesses who are receiving medical care at Doernbecher and Randall Children’s Hospital.
•    Children’s Center, Oregon City; $20,000 to add a bi-lingual, bi-cultural staff person to improve medical assessment services for Spanish-speaking families with a child who is a suspected victim of abuse.
•    Community Warehouse, Portland; $25,000 for improvements to a facility in NE Portland that is home to a “furniture bank,” with donated furniture and household items to be given to families recovering from crises such as domestic violence, incarceration, homelessness or substance abuse.
•    Leaven Community, Portland; $25,000 to expand training, networking and collaborative opportunities for civic leaders and community organizations serving historically displaced residents of North and Northeast Portland, including people of color and immigrant communities.
•    Outside In, Portland; $20,000 to improve Chicas, the youth development program for Latina girls designed to increase academic achievement and social outcomes for students in Washington County.
•    Teaching Preschool Partners, Gladstone; $15,000 to build capacity to share inquiry-based approaches to preschool teaching with educators and to help school districts and early childhood agencies establish their own inquiry-based classrooms.
•    Todos Juntos, Canby; $38,065 to improve the PreventNet program that provides prevention and intervention services as well as academic enrichment to middle school youth identified as high risk in Clackamas County.
For full lists of grants awarded around the state and more information about OCF initiatives visit http://www.oregoncf.org/grants-scholarships/grants/community-grants/recent-awards.

About The Oregon Community Foundation: The mission of The Oregon Community Foundation is to improve life for all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. OCF works with individuals, families, businesses and organizations to create charitable funds to support the community causes they care about. Through these funds OCF awarded more than $108 million in grants and scholarships in 2016. For more information about OCF, please visit: www.oregoncf.org.