Metro’s Community Placemaking grant program awarded $450,000 to support 23 projects across greater Portland for its 2025 grant cycle — the most funding distributed in the program’s history and more than double the projects from last year.
In its ninth cycle, the Community Placemaking program helps people tackle community challenges or opportunities by funding creative, arts-based, equity-focused efforts. Grants range from $5,000 to $25,000.
Metro Councilor Christine Lewis and Councilor Duncan Hwang, who both serve on the grant advisory group, were thrilled by the quality and quantity of applicants.
"I’m proud Councilor Hwang and I increased the budget and the scope of these grants,” Lewis said. “We’ve had to say no to so many deserving projects in the past, and it’s wonderful that this year, we as Metro can give them the support they deserve."
The Placemaking grants, Lewis said, are one of her favorite initiatives at Metro.
“These grants bring creativity into neighborhood environments,” she said, adding that the evaluation process provides insight and perspective on groups throughout the region. “One of the best ways to serve and hear from our communities is using a little bit of money to unlock their plans and dreams.”
The increased funding this year allowed for a wider geographic distribution of grant awards around the region. Projects will take place in Beaverton, Fairview, Forest Grove, Gresham, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Portland, Troutdale and Washington County.
“These are all such great projects — it would be impossible to pick a favorite,” said Councilor Hwang. “While each grant represents the vision of a particular place or community, they benefit so many. Whether it’s a new musical from an Indigenous playwright or gatherings where housed and houseless neighbors come together, these Placemaking grantees are creating spaces for connection, appreciation and understanding.”
This year's projects include preserving and celebrating Ukrainian culture through music, dance and art in Hillsboro; building a new community garden to grow kalo (taro) in Beaverton; developing an arts-based support club for teens impacted by incarceration, deportation and detention in East and Northeast Portland; hosting a medicine gathering for the Native community and its allies in Gresham; growing the Rose City Girls dance program to bring awareness to Iu Mien culture and connect with other refugees, immigrants and communities of color, and many more.
View the full list of projects and descriptions
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Location
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Grantee and Project Name
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Award
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Portland - E, NE
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Pathfinders of Oregon: The PATHfinder Club at the Center for Family Success
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$15,000
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Portland - Downtown
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Portland Chinatown History Foundation dba Portland Chinatown Museum: Building a Community of Care for Post-COVID Asian American and Immigrant Communities
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$25,000
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Hillsboro, Portland - NE
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DAWN, Inc.: Home away from home for Ukrainian refugees
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$25,000
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Portland - NE
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ELSO Inc.: Roots n Threads: Empowering Black and Brown Youth in Albina Through Place-Based Design
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$25,000
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Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale, Portland
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Iu Mien Association of Oregon: Rose City Girls Dance Program
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$15,360
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Beaverton, Forest Grove, Portland - NE
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Ka Aha Lahui O Olekona: Piko To Piko
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$25,000
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Portland - NE, SE, E
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Cultivate Initiatives: Eat & Greets, 2025-2026
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$15,000
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TBD, Portland - E
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Filipino American Association of Portland & Vicinity, Inc.: Filipino Cultural Immersion Program
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$25,000
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Portland - NE, SW, SE
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Color Outside the Lines: Youth Empowerment through the Arts
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$15,000
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Portland - SE
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Arab American Cultural Center of Oregon: 2025 Mahrajan
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$15,000
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Portland - NW
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Art in Oregon: Terrain
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$6,700
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Multnomah County, Washington County
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Bag & Baggage Productions: WY'EAST: A New Musical
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$15,000
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West Linn
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Oregon Cambodian Buddhist Society, Wat Dhammarangsey Restoration
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$15,000
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Gresham
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Pacific Northwest Council of Water Protectors: Annual Medicine Gathering
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$25,000
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Fairview
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Marianas Alliance for Growth of Islanders: Marianas Festival 2025: Cultural Celebration and Community Empowerment
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$25,000
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Portland - N
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Prismid, Inc.: Prismid Sanctuary Project
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$25,000
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Lake Oswego, Oregon City
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Respond to Racism in Lake Oswego: Events Celebrating BIPOC Culture In and Around Lake Oswego
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$25,000
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Portland - NE
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The UPRISE Collective: Community Stories are Community Survival: The Selah Series
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$16,140
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Portland - E
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Tigray Community of Oregon: Leadership and Capacity Building for Cultural Preservation
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$25,000
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Portland - SE, TBD
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Filipino Bayanihan Center: Kultura at Bayanihan: An Arts and Culture Program for Collective Action
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$25,000
|
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Portland - NE
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New Year in the Park planning committee (fiscal sponsor: Cambodian American Community of Oregon): 2025 New Year in the Park
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$15,000
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Multnomah County, Washington County
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Seven Vision (fiscal sponsor: Northwest Alliance for Alternative Media Education): Voices of Wisdom
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$21,800
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Portland - N
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Vibe of Portland: Discovering St. Johns
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$10,000
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Learn more about the Community Placemaking grant program