When asked what makes Deschutes Children’s Foundation unique, Executive Director Amy Ward replied, “We’re the only nonprofit service center in Oregon. And we aren’t aware of any other organizations — anywhere — that provide facility management free of charge to their partners.
“Our business model dramatically reduces expenses for our nonprofit partners who work at our community campuses in Bend, Redmond and La Pine. That means that more of our partners’ fundraising revenue goes directly toward achieving their individual missions. Imagine what it would be like to run your business without paying rent. Partnering with Deschutes Children’s Foundation means that local nonprofits spend an average of 56 percent less than market rate on their classrooms and office space. That’s a huge savings for our partners.”
Deschutes Children’s Foundation exists to help nonprofits serving children and families fulfill their missions. Founded in 1990 by community members who identified a need for families to access services in a centralized location, Deschutes Children’s Foundation has grown from their original community campus on NW 14th Street in Bend to encompass four locations in Deschutes County.
Children and families access a wide range of services at Deschutes Children’s Foundation’s locations, including child abuse intervention and prevention, mentoring, preschool, pediatric dentistry and health screenings, mediation and physical and occupational therapy. Clients can access the services of multiple partners in one convenient location. Having multiple nonprofits in one spot also improves communication and collaboration among organizations. The community campuses are warm, welcoming and safe environments staffed by knowledgeable facility managers.
Deschutes Children’s Foundation’s enables nonprofit partners to focus their hard-earned funds directly on their individual missions because their burden of fundraising for overhead expenses has been lessened. As a result, more children and families in our community receive crucial services.
