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Metro Council delivers $105,000 aid package with bricks, mortar, more

News release: Jan. 7, 2010
Contact: Karen Blauer, 503-797-1506

Twenty-seven projects to benefit residents, protect nature in Northwest Portland

Just as the effects from the holiday hoopla begin to wear off, the Metro Council gave Northwest Portland residents something to cheer about when it approved a $105,000 grants package earmarked for neighborhood improvements. Funds will fuel the fires of local organizations that deliver aid to local residents and groups that look after our natural environment.

"It's often said that the worst of times brings out the best in people," said Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder, chair of the Metro Central grant selection committee and whose district includes Northwest and North Portland. "This program inspires people to step forward and make something extraordinary happen in their neighborhood," he said.

Funds for the grants are generated from a 50-cent surcharge collected on each ton of garbage disposed of at the Metro Central garbage transfer station in Northwest Portland. Projects must directly benefit residents or neighborhoods around the facility, which includes five residential neighborhoods, Forest Park and the Northwest industrial core.

"If you have lived in these neighborhoods for any period of time, you have seen, and probably benefited from, the hard work of some incredibly committed non-profit organizations whose staff members and volunteers give their all. These are groups whose programming is highly valued by both service providers and beneficiaries," said Elizabeth Patte, one of six local activists working with Burkholder to review and select projects to fund. "These grants will have long lasting results, positively affect thousands of neighbors and their surroundings, and offer immediate relief, hope, and opportunity to people in the area."

The 2010 grant cycle marks the 19^th year Metro has invested funds in the community through the Central enhancement program. In that time, more than $2.8 million has been awarded to help fund 264 neighborhood improvement projects.

In recent years, grants have been made to the Irvington Covenant Community Development Corporation for a pre-apprenticeship program in the building trades for African-American high school youth; to the North Portland Tool Library that serves local residents working on do-it-yourself property improvement projects; to Loaves and Fishes Centers for a second meal delivered to frail, homebound, low-income seniors; and to Neighbors West Northwest, an organization that offers residents support services and coordinates neighborhood cleanup events.

For 2010, Metro awarded a total of $105,000 to 27 organizations, including the following:

Audubon Society of Portland www.audubonportland.org
$5,000 - Education Center floor replacement project

Community Warehouse www.communitywarehouse.com
$3,000 - transportation services to pickup donated household furnishings and redistribute them to low income families

Forest Park Conservancy www.forestparkconservancy.org
$7,500 - Outreach and stewardship program

Friendly House, Inc.  www.friendlyhouseinc.org
$4,200 - Scholarships for summer arts programming, community center membership

Golden Harvesters, Inc.
$11,500 - Walk-in cooler for food pantry that serves 500+ members

Hand to Mouth Theatre www.hand2mouththeatre.org
$500 - Hand-in-Hand theater program and workshops for low-income youth

Homowo African Arts and Cultures  www.homowo.org
$1,500 - "North Portland meets Africa" cultural arts program in Cathedral Park

Irvington Covenant Community Development Corp www.constructinghope.com
$5,500 - Pre-apprenticeship program in the building trades for high school youth

Josiah Hill Clinic  www.jhillclinic.org
$2,000 - "Healthy homes, healthy people" project with "green cleaning" workshops

Linnton Community Center www.linnton.com
$15,000 - transitional shelter housing project

Loaves & Fishes Centers www.loavesandfishesonline.org
$5,000 - Two Rivers Center onsite dining program

Neighbors for Clean Air
$2,000 - Development of OregonAir.org web site about local air pollution problems

Neighbors West Northwest  www.nwnw.org
$1,000 - Outreach equipment upgrade project

Northwest Children's Theater & School    www.nwcts.org
$3,000 - improvements to building façade and arbor care project

Northwest Neighborhood Cultural Center  www.nwncc.org
$8,000 - chimney repairs project

Open Meadow Alternative School www.openmeadow.org
$3,000 - mobile technology lab project

Police Activities League www.palkids.org
$2,500 - sports camp scholarships for local youth

Portland Festival Symphony   www.PortlandFestivalSymphony.org
$2,000 - free classical music concert in Cathedral Park

Portland Playhouse  www.portlandplayhouse.org
$2,000 - school outreach program

Sauvie Island Center www.sauvieislandcenter.org
$2,000 - farm-based educational field trips for school students

St. Johns+Arts
$500 - mult-media art project in St. Johns

St. Johns Farmer's Market www.sjfarmersmarket.com
$3,000 - outreach and food education assistance program

St. Johns Parade Committee
$1,300 - production of 2010 St. Johns Parade

Store To Door or Oregon www.storetodooroforegon.org
$3,500 - grocery shopping and delivery service for seniors and disabled people

Theodore Roosevelt Women's Scholarship Association
$2,500 - post-secondary school scholarships to students

Three Rivers land Conservancy www.trlc.org
$5,000 - Northwest Portland habitat enhancement and education programs

William Temple House  www.williamtemple.org
$3,000 - roof repair and improvement project

For more information about projects receiving funds this year, or to read a report about outcomes of past projects funded, visit Metro's web site at www.oregonmetro.gov/grants or call Karen Blauer at (503) 797-1506.

Metro, the regional government that serves 1.4 million people who live in the 25 cities and three counties in the Portland metropolitan area, provides planning and other services that protect the nature and livability of our region.

Related Links

Community enhancement grants

Find opportunities to receive grants for projects that benefit North and Northwest Portland, Oregon City and Forest Grove.