In our inaugural year of public grants, we received 44 applications and were delighted to support 16 amazing organizations with unrestricted grants totaling $30,000. We are proud to partner with these organizations going forward, and we encourage other organizations to consider applying for grants in future years.
Please join us in celebrating our inaugural grantees:
$3,000 Recipients
Coalition of Communities of Color – The Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) aims to address the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by the following communities of color: African, African American, Asian, Latino, Native American, Pacific Islander, and Slavic. Since 2001, the Coalition of Communities of Color has sought to improve outcomes for communities of color through policy analysis, advocacy, research, and leadership development. Through the CCC’s commitment to racial equity, the organization has earned the reputation as one of the Northwest’s foremost providers of culturally-appropriate data and research, and has demonstrated leadership in working across sectors to advance racial equity.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to support general operating expenses for their research.
Refugee Resettlement Program, Catholic Charities – Since the 1940s, Catholic Charities has been providing Refugee Resettlement services to some of Oregon’s most vulnerable, traumatized, and newest residents. The program welcomes individuals and families from all nations and religious groups that have been forced to leave their homes due to persecution because of race, religion, nationality, orientation, cultural background, and political opinions. From the moment refugee families step off the plane, the Refugee Resettlement Program ensures that basic needs are met, including shelter, furnishings, and food. Case managers also assist with enrolling refugee students in school and providing families with information on personal safety and public rules and services.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to providing new beds and a five-week orientation class for arriving refugees.
Sexual Assault Resource Center – Founded in 1977 by two sexual assault survivors, the Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC) has a mission to promote social justice by eliminating sexual violence in the community through education, support, and advocacy. SARC works to ensure sexual assault survivors get the information they need, that they are listened to, and that they are treated with sensitivity and dignity. SARC offers various services for victims of sexual assault, including a 24-hour help line, counseling services, prevention, education, and case management.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will be used to provide salary support for one of their mental health clinicians.
Voz: Worker’s Rights – Voz is a worker-led organization that empowers diverse day laborers and immigrants to improve their working conditions and protect civil rights through leadership development, organizing, education and economic opportunity. Voz provides a safe place for workers to build community, participate in trainings that increase employability, and work towards ending exploitation, discrimination, and wage theft. Voz also connects hundreds of workers with local employers each month. Since 2008, Voz has reclaimed over $530,00 in lost wages and facilitated 25,127 jobs.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will fund general operating expenses to support staffing and services at the MLK Jr. Worker Center. (Any members of The Portland Clinic community who need some labor assistance, whether gardening, home repair, or other jobs, are encouraged to hire a Voz day worker!)
Clackamas Service Center – In 1973, three women pooled their Bingo winnings and founded Clackamas Service Center to help abate poverty and hunger in their community, an area of greater Portland that still has endemic poverty and is underserved by mainstream resources. Today, CSC is a “one-stop” community campus offering individuals and families food and other resources for improved health, dignity, and stability on their path toward self-sufficiency. For over 5,000 people per year, it helps improve their safety, health, and stability by providing services including: food boxes, dental services, a needle exchange program, haircuts, clothing, and a warming shelter. “This place saves lives. I don’t know what I would do without the center.” – Alex, Clackamas Service Center Client
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to support general operating support for staffing and services.
UPDATE: Following a fire at Clackamas Service Center on July 6th, The Portland Clinic Foundation will be working closely with them to help them rebuild and restock. In August, TPC employees donated a combined 58 square feet of hygiene products to help CSC’s mobile showers unit reopen, and we look forward to celebrating the center’s grand reopening later in 2018!
$2,000 Recipients
Elders in Action – Established in 1968, Elders in Action works to ensure older adults in the community are engaged, connected, safe, and valued. Elders in Action promotes the health and resilience of the community by advocating for, educating, and serving older adults through volunteer engagement. The organization’s Personal Advocate Program helps elders navigate difficult situations, and the Civic Involvement Program works to elevate the role of elders in political processes. These services, along with all Elders in Action services, contribute to the overall health and vibrancy of older adults in the community.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to support the Personal Advocate program’s staffing structure.
Good Neighbor Center – Since 1999, Good Neighbor Center has provided emergency shelter for families during their time of transition. Throughout a family’s stay at Good Neighbor Center, they are provided with food and shelter for up to six weeks. The Good Neighbor Center offers a homework club, ten-week summer school for children, and access to various life skills classes. Staff members are determined to be the best advocate for each family’s path to self-sufficiency and permanent, independent housing. “Thank you, Good Neighbor Center. In 2005, I was [sheltered] there as a single mother with limited education. Now, I am married with five kids and am a third-year college student studying social work!” – Krista, Good Neighbor Center Client
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to support the Pathway Home Program, which solves and prevents homelessness by helping families moving into permanent housing with deposit assistance, and by providing emergency rent and/or utility assistance to families struggling to remain in their own home.
Growing Gardens – For over 20 years, Growing Gardens has been dedicated to reducing hunger and transforming lives through the experience of gardening and growing your own food. Growing Gardens has used home-scale, organic gardening to improve nutrition, health, and self-reliance, while enhancing the quality of life and the environment for individuals and communities in Portland, Oregon. The organization’s programs include the Youth Grow Program, which builds partnerships with local schools to provide after-school and summer gardening programs, and the Lettuce Grow Program that works with incarcerated youths and adults to teach hands-on gardening classes. Growing Gardens has a received a multitude of recognition including the Skidmore Prize for Community, the Sustainable Community Award, and the Public Health Hero Award.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to support general operating expenses to support their impactful work.
North by Northeast Community Health Center – North by Northeast Community Health Center is the only medical clinic in Oregon that focuses on African American health. It was founded in 2006, when it became clear that both long-time neighborhood residents and Hurricane Katrina survivors who had been relocated to Portland were going without needed medical care because they lacked health insurance and couldn’t afford a doctor’s visit, lab tests, medications or preventive care. North by Northeast strives to advance the health equity by offering primary care services focused on chronic health conditions affecting the local African American population and other community members. It has been presented with various awards, including the Kaiser Permanente David Lawrence Community Service Award and the Light a Fire Award.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to support general operating to help NxNE keep pace with growing need.
Raphael House – Founded in 1977, Raphael House of Portland is committed to fighting intimate partner violence through an emergency shelter, 24-hour hotline, transitional housing, and advocacy programs. Every year, Raphael House will provide over 10,000 safe bed nights, 60% of which go to children from households of domestic violence. The emergency shelter offers physical and emotional safety for families leaving a domestic violence situation and brings hope to survivors for a life that is free from abuse. Services within the Raphael House include an Advocacy Center for past residents to gain support through health, wellness, and business skills classes. Raphael House’s Education Program offers free prevention workshops in community, and sparks conversation about ending domestic and sexual violence. In 2006, the Education Program facilitated over 600 presentations with more than 15,000 members of the community.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to support general operating to help replace imperiled federal government funding sources.
Shadow Project – The Shadow Project strives to help children with learning challenges from 36 primarily high-poverty Oregon schools gain access to the tools they need to set literacy goals and achieve their full potential. More than 10,000 children in Oregon have benefited from The Shadow Project’s services, including the unique goal-setting program, which builds confidence and critical thinking skills while accelerating learning. With the help of The Shadow Project’s Professional Development initiative, school staff have access to adaptive technologies, tools, materials, and strategies to serve their students with unique learning needs. The Shadow Project has positively impacted the potential of Oregon school children with learning challenges, such as dyslexia, autism, and ADHD. The Shadow project has received multiple awards including the City of Portland’s Making a Difference in Education Award.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will go to support general operating, including teacher and student support on assistive technology; sensory tools that help children focus their attention on learning; and workshops for families so they can access and utilize these tools at home.
$1,000 Recipients
Beaverton Police Activities League – For over 20 years, The Beaverton Police Activities League (PAL) has operated a safe and affordable youth program designed at building relationships between kids, cops, and the larger community through recreational and enrichment programs. Programs are offered year-round and include after-school programs, summer camps, and youth centers. These programs have proven to reduce crime and improve relationships between kids, cops, and the entire community.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will fund the remainder of their “Finding Our Voices” workshop, which provides high school students an opportunity to share their stories of survival from traumas including addiction, homelessness, and mental health issues. The grant will also help support general operating for their summer camp.
Community Warehouse – Community Warehouse is the only nonprofit furniture bank serving Oregon and SW Washington that collects and redistributes donated household items to neighbors in need. Their mission is to help vulnerable populations improve the quality of their lives and become self-sufficient by providing them with basic household furnishings. With two locations in greater Portland, Community Warehouse supplies furniture to over 7,000 individuals and families each year, helping them get back on their feet. In 2016, Community Warehouse gave 2,369 mattresses, 997 dining tables, and 5,904 dish sets. “By transforming housing into homes for those in need, families and children can live with dignity as they integrate into work, school, society and life.” – Frank Grady, Board Member
The Portland Clinic Foundation will help support general operating expenses associated with their two furniture warehouses, as well as distribution.
Hollywood Theatre – Operating for over 90 years, The Hollywood Theatre has fulfilled its mission to serve the community through cinema entertainment, conversation, and education. The Hollywood Theatre educates emerging artists about filmmaking, partners with Oregon’s independent filmmakers to produce new works, and generates diverse audiences by exhibiting independent, cult, and classic films. Hollywood Theatre serves more than 2,000 Portland youth every year through an education program that offers unique opportunities for students to utilize digital storytelling to connect with their community. In-school and after-school courses, summer camps, and screenings are available for the students. Since 1983, Hollywood Theatre is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will support general operating expenditures.
$500 Recipients
Chelsea’s Closet – Chelsea’s Closet provides a rolling armoire of costumes that visits NW children’s hospitals for monthly dress up and play events to patients fighting serious illnesses. More than 1,800 costumes are delivered each year, inspiring hope and healing for critically ill children and their families. Chelsea’s Closet offers children with an outfit and accessories of their choice, and hosts an exciting party where the children can parade around the hospital to model their costumes.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will support general operating expenditures.
Living Yoga – For nearly 20 years, Living Yoga has been dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable and marginalized individuals who would otherwise not have access to yoga classes. Living Yoga’s trauma-informed yoga classes provide an alternative path to those in prison and drug and alcohol treatment centers who have experienced trauma, providing a unique option for healing. Trauma-informed yoga classes benefit the students by helping them heal and become more positive, productive, and healthy members of society. Weekly classes are offered at 23 institutions, reaching over 3,100 students each year. Sixty three percent of Living Yoga students agree that skills from their classes will help them maintain sobriety, and 86% were happy they attended class.
The Portland Clinic Foundation grant will support general operating expenditures.
THANKS TO YOU
The Portland Clinic Foundation is supported by contributions from you—our patients, employees, partners, friends, colleagues, and wider community members. This year our Foundation received 44 applications totaling over $200,000 in requests. We could only fund 16 of these requests, none fully. Please help us expand our impact and reach more people in need! Get in touch to learn more about ways to get involved, or
Learn more about applying for a grant >
“Catholic Charities is delighted to be among The Portland Clinic Foundation’s first cohort of grantees. Their investment in our Refugee Resettlement Program furthers our ability to offer some of the most vulnerable members of our community a broad array of services that not only meet their most basic needs, but that also provide them with the tools, knowledge and support they need to thrive in a new country.” — James Howell, Director of Development, Catholic Charities
“We are so pleased to partner with The Portland Clinic Foundation to enhance our advocacy and direct service to vulnerable older adults in the Portland area. Our volunteer corps of [more than] 140 active and engaged personal advocates work directly with hundreds of seniors each year to provide them with the support and assistance they need to remain independent and to age in place.” — Barbara Bernstein, Executive Director, Elders in Action
Contact Us
The Portland Clinic Foundation
1221 SW Yamhill St., Ste. 400
Portland, OR 97205
503-221-0161, x2154
[email protected]
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