"We gave out $112,000 in grants last year and this year we expect to give out approximately $285,000," said Metro's nature in neighborhoods grants program manager Heather Nelson Kent. "We'd love to find some new applicants this time around."
Metro Councilor Sam Chase, who chairs the committee that awards the grants, said in addition to increasing the fee, the council made some changes to the program to lower administrative expenditures that helped increase grant funds even more.
"We made sure 80 percent of the dollars are going out the door for the community and we put a cap on administration of the grants at 20 percent," he said. "I am enthusiastic about the opportunity created with this expansion of funding and I am glad we did this because there really had been no adjustment for the cost of inflation over the years. This is a nice win for our communities."
The grants are designed to support residents within an area that stretches along the west side of the Willamette River from the Northwest District Association to Linnton, as well as an area around the St. Johns Bridge within North Portland's Cathedral Park neighborhood.
Metro Central Enhancement Grant boundary
Projects funded by grants must occur within or serve residents from the target area and must meet specified community needs including: improving the environmental quality of the area, preserving or enhancing wildlife areas, improving recreation opportunities for residents, providing services that benefit youth, elderly and/or low-income residents, increase recycling opportunities or improving the safety or appearance of neighborhoods.
Daniel Faccinetti, executive director of Linnton Community Center, an organization that has received Metro Central Enhancement Grants for several years, said the grants have been instrumental in helping the community center thrive.
"Having these Metro grants has made it easier to go out and get more help," Faccinetti said. "We got a fridge with one of our grants so we could store food for our emergency food program longer. Getting that fridge allowed us to leverage other resources and get more refridgerators."
In 2014 the grant Linnton Community Center, built in 1926, received a grant from Metro that helped repair the roof.
"Our building has gone from being really quite dilapidated when we reopened in the early 2000's to being almost completely remodeled," Faccinetti said. "The impact of the new roof that Metro helped us get was tremendous. That room where the roof was leaking is where kids do their homework in the afternoon and where we hold meetings. Metro really stepped up and helped us a lot with that grant."
Faccinetti said the increase in available funds and the committees' willingness to fund larger projects is very exciting for community organizations like his.
"If you are trying to do something big and you have to piece it together with lots of little grants, it is much more difficult," he said.
Chase echoed Faccinetti when talking about the grants.
"We plan to expand and create large-size grant opportunities," Chase said. "We can now potentially offer grants in the range of $20,000 to $40,000. We can help groups do more significant projects and spend more time working on the projects instead of looking for little grants."
Kiersten Ware, executive director of Store to Door, an organization that grocery shops for home-bound, low-income senior citizens, said her organization is growing rapidly.
"The increase in grant money couldn’t be better timing because the population of elderly is growing," she said. "This organization has increased its services by 30 percent over the last three years and our volunteer corps has doubled in size. There is a lot more work that needs to be done."
Grants are awarded by the Metro Central Enhancement Committee, which is made up of citizens from neighborhood associations as well as a Metro councilor, and a representative from the environmental community. Grant applications are due by Sept. 1 and decisions will be made by the end of the year with funds available Jan. 1.
Nelson Kent said there will be a grant writing workshop for interested organizations in August ahead of the application deadline.
Chase said he's looking forward to seeing how the changes to the program play out.
"We'd like to end up with not just more resources going out, but with better projects," he said. "I will be going to neighborhood association meetings and letting people know about the changes."