The Portland Clinic Foundation awards a record $100,000 to 36 local nonprofits to commemorate The Portland Clinic’s 100th anniversary.
To recognize the 100th anniversary of The Portland Clinic in 2021, and to respond to the elevated community need amid the pandemic, The Portland Clinic Foundation announced today it has awarded a record $100,000 in unrestricted grants to 36 nonprofit organizations in the Portland metropolitan area.
“Thanks to all our generous supporters and sponsors, we are able to give a record $100,000 in grants this year. While these grants celebrate the clinic’s centennial, they also acknowledge the elevated needs and exacerbated inequities our region has experienced over the last 15 months,” says Kris Anderson, executive director of The Portland Clinic Foundation. “The foundation’s 2021 partner nonprofits are working against some of the most pressing challenges in our community: advocating for racial, gender, disability, and age justice, and providing much-needed food and housing security, equitable health care, resources for struggling students, a community for those who have been isolated, and so much more. We are grateful to everyone who supports our work and, as a result, the work of our amazing grantees.”
“We are especially aware of how the trust we have built with the African American/Black community has been invaluable during the pandemic. Our patients and community members have needed a trusted resource to turn to over the past year for COVID information, testing, care advice, and vaccines, as well as support for daily needs like food and financial assistance,” says Suzy Jeffries, executive director of North by Northeast Community Health Center, one of the 2021 grant recipients. “General operating support from The Portland Clinic Foundation helps us remain financially stable so that we can respond quickly and thoughtfully to the quickly changing needs of our patients and the broader community during this challenging time.”
In addition, Providence Health & Service’s Community Health Division has agreed to match $8,000 in grants to The Portland Clinic Foundation recipient organizations for a second time, increasing the amount they receive. The organizations receiving the matching grants are Hollywood Senior Center, Red Lodge Transition Services, and The Living Room.
“Our work would not be possible without community partnerships. The grant from The Portland Clinic Foundation will assist us in delivering important services and programs to empower elders to live safe and full lives through supportive services and social connection. Thank you to the Portland Clinic Foundation for providing responsive grantmaking in support of community need,” says Amber Kern Johnson, executive director of the Hollywood Senior Center.
This is the fifth year the foundation has accepted public grant applications, providing a total of $310,000 in grants to date to 72 nonprofits advancing community wellness across greater Portland.
The Portland Clinic serves about 90,000 patients each year through its clinics, “but we don’t want to stop there,” says Dick Clark, The Portland Clinic’s CEO. “We want to go beyond that. The foundation is an opportunity to serve our community in a different way, through strategic partnerships with quality nonprofits doing their own good work. It’s become an extension of our mission to serve the community and support wellness.”
For the 2021 grant initiative, the foundation received 80 applications with requests totaling more than $359,000, a 16% increase in applicants from 2020, when 69 organizations applied and $75,000 in grants were awarded to 31 local nonprofits. The Portland Clinic Foundation awards “unrestricted grants” which allow recipients more flexibility and immediacy in the way they use the funds.
Sponsors and community partners
These 2021 grants were made possible in part by the major gifts made to the foundation in honor of the clinic’s centennial by the following sponsors and community supporters:
- Regence BlueCross BlueShield
- Ronald W. Naito MD Foundation
- Dick and Liz Clark
- Legacy Health
- Northwest Permanente, P.C., Physicians and Surgeons
- The Partners Group
- Schommer & Sons Construction
- Stoel Rives, LLP
