Metro to offer informational session for those interested in applying for 2019 Community Enhancement Grants

school children present their learning from a farm visit to other classmates

Third grade students take their experiences and learning from STEM on the Farm back to the classroom.

Hands On Farm Learning for Youth

Sauvie Island Center received $14,050 to support STEM on the Farm, a program for approximately 165 third grade students who attend James John and Chapman Elementary Schools in 2017 and 2018. It’s a unique opportunity for students to spend a whole day exploring and working on a farm while deepening their understanding and appreciation for healthy ecosystems. Children participated in soil investigation, wildlife and food web activities, plant parts investigations and pollination stations.

A child holds a sign that reads, "Homes for All" at a rally for tenant rights

Community Alliance of Tenants offers education and support around tenant rights issues.

Tenants’ Rights Advocacy

Community Alliance of Tenants received $48,000 to expand the organization’s tenant education services, building-based organizing and leadership development opportunities in North and Northwest Portland neighborhoods. The tenant-led grassroots organization runs a renters rights hotline, hosts community workshops, and supports tenants living in buildings with repair concerns. Their effort at Titan Manor in North Portland is one example of the kind of organizing and support they offer to renters.

A smiling elder woman sits next to a smiling younger woman at a community event

Friendly House provides advocacy, case management, and transportation services to seniors.

Senior Services and Facelift of Historic Buildings

Friendly House received $23,000 to provide building improvements and $30,000 to support Community Services for Seniors. The program helps older adults (especially those on low income and underserved populations, including LGBT people) to live active, independent lives, with dignity, in the settings of their choice. Funding went toward the safe removal of the old, lead paint exteriors of three buildings in The Friendly House campus - two of which are on the City of Portland’s Historic Resource Inventory. Additionally, funds helped pay for advocacy, case management and transportation services to senior citizens in need.

firefight stop by for a visit to the Linton Community Center

When complete, the Linnton Toolbox will be a makerspace where area teens can learn from local leaders and mentors.

Makerspace and Mentorship for Youth

Linnton Community Center received $42,243 to help fund the construction of a community workshop called The Linnton Toolbox. This space will house technical projects that teach practical life skills and build community for youth in the Linnton neighborhood. Toolbox programming aims to connect kids with community leaders and mentors via STEM focused activities and other hands-on projects. Funding also went toward installing a needed sidewalk and new kitchen at the center.

Forest Park Youth Volunteer Crew Leaders smile for the camera

Five teenage youth completed leadership training through Forest Park Conservancy.

Youth Stewardship Training

Forest Park Conservancy received $7,432 to grow the Forest Park Youth Volunteer Crew Leader Program with the goal of developing the next generation of stewards of Forest Park. They used funds to recruit and train 5 teenage youth who volunteered at a number of events including Spring Day of Stewardship and Earth Day. They also forged a partnership with Post58 to offer an eight-week, full-time trail project this summer with 10 students.

a male and female actor share the stage during dramatic performance

Hand2Mounth Theater brought Berlin Diary to the stage and facilitated community conversations about the impact of the Holocaust on families and cultures.

Theater Production with Community Conversations

Hand2Mouth Theater received $11,500 to produce a three-week run of Berlin Diary, a new play by Oregon Book Award winning playwright Andrea Stolowitz in association with Coho Theatre in Northwest Portland. The project included community conversations with audiences about Holocaust survival, diaspora and family displacement. Their goal was to create a wider conversation about lessons from the past that can help guide us today.

a tutor helps two grade school students with reading

Reading Results helped dozens of Chapman Elementary School kids improve their reading skills.

Reading Skill Building

PPS Chapman Elementary School received $19,000 to partner with Reading Results, a program which provides a proven reading intervention program for first through third grade students who are reading one to two grades below grade level. Funding reached a total of 36 students with a total of 1,748 tutoring sessions over the school year. Through this program, kids gained confidence both as readers and as students.

When complete, Community Vision's Our Home will offer an inclusive housing community to 20 individuals with disabilities and families.n

Inclusive Community

Community Vision received $25,000 to support Our Home, an inclusive co-housing-inspired community in the Cathedral Park neighborhood of North Portland for families and people experiencing disability. Since 1999, Community Vision has helped more than 150 individuals with disabilities and families to become homeowners. Funding went toward professional services associated with designing Our Home. When finished, it will be home to 20 individuals and families, include accessible community space, and offer 5,000 square feet of garden and natural areas.

a volunteer gives an elderly client a hug

Store to door volunteers provide grocery and shopping services to homebound seniors and people with disabilities.

Grocery Delivery Help for Seniors

Store to Door received $30,000 to grow their volunteer-based grocery and shopping delivery service for Portland area seniors and people with disabilities. They aimed to increase their clients in the grant’s target area by 40% over two years. Funding went toward a portion of a new position – Client Outreach Coordinator – who began to provide culturally competent outreach and identify high-risk, minority clients.

a volunteer delivers a meal to the home of an elderly man

Meals on Wheels received community enhancement money to bring hot meals to 70,000 homebound elders.

Hot Meals for Northwest Portland Seniors

Meals on Wheels People received $10,000 to provide daily hot meals to elders served by the Elm Court Center in Portland, and home meal deliveries to 70,000 homebound elders, approximately 2/3 of whom reside in the Metro Central Community Enhancement Program target area. More than half of those served live at or below the poverty level. Many live in isolated areas off Skyline Boulevard and Cornell Road where they have little contact with people other than their Meals on Wheels volunteers.

July 25, 2018 11:34 a.m.

For decades, Pat Wagner, board chair for the Linnton Community Center, has been a driving force behind community efforts to enrich her Northwest Portland neighborhood. She and other volunteers worked to get safe bus stops, crosswalks, and community services for the people of Linnton.

In true activist fashion, she shares the credit.

She points to Metro’s oldest equity-based program and says that Community Enhancement Grants have “changed the face of Linnton.”

Since 1986, Metro has partnered with governments and community organizations across the Portland area to invest millions of dollars toward improving the quality of life for residents living near a transfer station or landfill.

Interested in applying? Attend the informational session.

An information session will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 1, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in conference room 370A at Metro, 600 NE Grand Ave.

Seven cities – Forest Grove, Gresham, Portland, Oregon City, Sherwood, Troutdale and Wilsonville – participate in the grant making program which is funded by garbage and recycling fees.

“We want the community to recognize our solid waste facility as an asset not a burden. We want to be a good neighbor,” says Rob Nathan, Community Enhancement Grants manager for Metro. “The community helps make the decision about where the funds go – because they know best.”

In 2017, the Linnton Community Center received $42,243 to go toward several projects including the creation of a makerspace. When completed, The Linnton Toolbox will be a place where community members with hands-on skills, arts or crafts can mentor the next generation. Its goal is to engage young people with project-based activities currently unavailable to them.

“We have the teenagers ready and waiting,” says the center’s executive director Susy Kristin.

Other grant recipients in 2017 from neighborhoods near the Metro Central Transfer Station used funds to provide transportation to elders living in isolated areas in the Northwest hills, create inclusive housing for people experiencing disabilities in Cathedral Park, and teach elementary school children about farm ecosystems.

Those interested in applying for the next cycle of grants can attend an informational session on Wednesday, August 1, 2018 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in conference room 370A at Metro, 600 NE Grand Ave.

Learn more about the 2017 community enhancement projects in the Community Enhancement Program Annual Report.