More Than $337,000 in Fall Grants Awarded by OCF in Central Oregon
In November, The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) Board of Directors approved more than $337,000 in 26 grants to Central Oregon nonprofits. Following the third consecutive difficult wildfire season, OCF funded grants to support firefighting and wildfire prevention efforts in the region. Other grants addressed disparities in health and access to recreational opportunities for Central Oregon youth and their families, and in total, Central Oregon grants contributed to more than $8.4 million awarded by OCF statewide.
In Central Oregon in 2015, firefighting and wildfire prevention grants totaling $33,000 were awarded to:
• Ash Butte Grange, Ashwood; $14,000 to finish reconstruction of the grange hall (burned in 2013), which hosts efforts to prevent and fight local rangeland fires.
• Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Warm Springs; $4,000 for the purchase of 25 sets of firefighting gear.
• Heart of Oregon Corps, Inc., Bend; $15,000 to replace aging vehicles and equipment essential for programs that offer educational support and job training opportunities – like wildfire fuels reduction – to low-income youth in Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson and Klamath counties.
Grants awarded to organizations focused on improving health and access to recreational and education opportunities for youth and their families in Central Oregon totaled $205,715 and were awarded to:
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County, Warm Springs; $12,000 for the purchase of equipment for a digital learning center.
• CASA of Central Oregon, Bend; $22,000 for support to build organizational capacity to advocate for abused and neglected children.
• Central Oregon Environmental Center, Bend; $10,000 for a second year of funding for a development associate and consultant services to increase support for environmental education and advocacy.
• Children’s Forest of Central Oregon, Bend; $10,000 for support for the Nature and Health Initiative, a series of nature and school-based programs for youth and their families.
• Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Warm Springs; $58,415 for a third year of funding to expand and improve culturally based out-of-school time curriculum for Native American students.
• J Bar J Youth Services, Bend; $15,000 for a third year of funding to build capacity to meet the needs of at-risk youth in Central Oregon by diversifying revenue.
• Kids Club of Jefferson County, Madras; $5,500 for a second year of support for capital improvements to space used for recreational and academic support programs.
• Mosaic Medical, Bend; $2,500 to improve the oral health of youth and adults in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties by integrating oral health assessments into primary care visits.
• Sisters Schools Foundation, Inc., Sisters; $15,000 for a second year of support for the Seed to Table project to provide nutrition science education and access to fresh, unprocessed produce to students and their families in the Sisters School District.
• The Dalles-Wasco County Library Foundation, The Dalles; $35,000 to expand the library to create dedicated space for programs for children and youth.
• The Landing Youth & Tutoring Center, Prineville; $8,000 to build organizational capacity for out-of-school programs for middle and high school students by increasing staff levels.
• Think Again ParentS (TAPS) of South County, La Pine; $12,300 to build organizational capacity to prevent substance abuse among youth ages 10-18 in southern Deschutes County.
Additional grants in the region included:
• A Home to Share, Sisters; $6,500 to hire a community program facilitator to help launch a co-op home for adults with developmental disabilities.
• Abilitree, Bend; $6,000 for an outreach initiative educating children and community leaders about the value of including those with disabilities in the workplace, schools and everyday community life.
• Assistance League of Bend, Bend; $4,245 to support ongoing operation of the Operation School Bell program, providing clothing to low-income children in Deschutes County.
• Bend 2030, Bend; $10,000 to hire a part-time director to implement civic engagement strategies that include all sectors in identifying the values and challenges for the rapidly growing community.
• CLEAR Alliance, Redmond; $1,000 for development of a broadly-accessible clearinghouse of educational, evidence-based public health and safety resources, with initial focus on marijuana and heroin.
• Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Warm Springs; $20,000 for a second year of support for a development director for KWSO Radio, a noncommercial radio station owned by the Tribe with all of its programs produced locally.
• Deschutes Land Trust, Bend; $10,000 for a third year of support to expand the Walk + Hike program, which engages participants in tours of protected land and helps build membership.
• High Desert Chamber Music, Bend; $1,000 to hire an administrative assistant, expand educational outreach programs in schools, and improve concert series in Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties.
• La Pine Community Kitchen, La Pine; $10,500 to support a food program that provides 15,000 meals annually to low-income families in southern Deschutes and northern Klamath counties.
• Mid-Columbia Senior Center, The Dalles; $15,000 to install an indoor elevator and stairway, and expand the front of the building, to better serve older adults and increase safety.
• Partners in Care, Inc., Bend; $15,000 to provide palliative care not just through home-based services but also at Bend Medical Clinic, addressing the health care needs of persons with chronic illnesses.
For full lists of grants awarded around the state and more information about OCF initiatives visit www.oregoncf.org.
The mission of The Oregon Community Foundation is to improve life in Oregon and promote effective 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 has awarded a total of $1 billion in grants and scholarships, with $80 million awarded in 2014 alone.
