April 2017 Grants

At the April meeting of the Trustees, The Collins Foundation was proud to award 24 single-year grants and 15 multi-year grants, totaling nearly $1.8 million invested in nonprofits across Oregon.





Arts

Cascade School of Music -- $12,000  to develop a comprehensive and inclusive plan to engage low-income students, youth with disabilities, and students of color in cascade school of music's education programs in Central Oregon

Illinois Valley Community Development Organization (RiverStars Performing Arts) -- $20,000 over two years to provide after-school theater and dance programs and performance opportunities to K-12 students in a rural, underresourced area of Josephine County

Latino Network -- $70,000  to provide culturally-specific arts and culture programs for Latino youth and adults in Multnomah County

Northwest Children's Theater and School -- $15,000  to support youth-oriented theater programs and operations in the Portland Area

OCF's DeVos Institute Fund -- $30,000 over two years to support a capacity-building cohort focused on small and rural arts and culture organizations

Ross Ragland Theater -- $8,800  to provide in-school and theater-based arts education programs to serve K-12 students in the rural Klamath basin region

Sowelu Theater -- $7,000  to produce “The Crackwalker,” an original play about individuals with disabilities and the challenges of mental illness, for Portland audiences

Umpqua Symphony Association -- $10,000  to support following strings to success, a comprehensive music education program for young musicians participating in the Douglas County youth orchestra

 
 
 

Children & Youth

CASA of Polk County -- $32,000 over two years to support volunteer management capacity building to increase the number of foster children served in Polk County

Child Advocates -- $35,000 over two years to strengthen the peer coordinator model to recruit and retain more volunteer advocates and increase the number of foster children served in Clackamas County

Condon Child Care -- $60,000  to construct the early education and child care center to serve families in rural Gilliam and Wheeler Counties

Heart of Oregon Corps -- $12,000  to support training, youth employment, and forestland restoration work performed by a culturally diverse mix of teens drawn from rural Central Oregon communities

OCF's Early Childhood Funders Learning Circle -- $150,000 over three years to support a joint investment opportunity for childcare workforce development

Process Work Institute -- $10,000  to deliver a week-long leadership development intensive to a multiracial, culturally and economically diverse group of Portland-area teens

Tender Loving Care, Think and Try (TLC-TnT) -- $5,000  to support peer mentor positions for a culturally diverse corps of teens and young adults who plan, coordinate, and supervise enrichment activities at a day camp serving K-8 students from culturally diverse, low-income North Portland families

 
 
 

Community Welfare

Adelante Mujeres -- $150,000 over two years to construct classroom spaces, community rooms, and a playground in the agency's new headquarters to serve low-income Latina immigrants and their families

Bend 2030 -- $15,000  to support staffing and outreach to strengthen representation from low-income Latino, senior, veteran, disability, and neighborhood association communities in civic policy and planning decisions

Downtown Languages -- $10,000  to support Pilas!, a school readiness, family-focused literacy and English language acquisition program serving low-income, immigrant Latino families with pre-K through middle school-age children in Lane County

Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington -- $25,000 over three years to build organizational capacity through a period of executive transition and growth

Living Opportunities -- $35,000  to upgrade and expand a fleet of vehicles to provide transportation for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Rogue Valley

Mid-Valley Literacy Center -- $15,000  to expand the Workplace English as a Second Language program to improve employment opportunities for Latinos and other recent immigrants and refugees in the Willamette Valley region

Q Center -- $15,000  to support *era* programs to increase social engagement, self-expression, and quality of life for LGBTQ individuals, ages 55+ in Portland

Rebuilding Together Washington County -- $5,000  to provide free home repair for low-income mobile home owners in Washington County, primarily individuals with disabilities, the elderly, and veterans

Rural Development Initiatives -- $60,000 over two years to expand Pasos al Exito, a culturally responsive microenterprise training for low-income, Latino immigrant entrepreneurs in Tillamook and Yamhill counties

Street Roots -- $65,000 over three years to expand staffing to employ more low-income vendors, many of whom are homeless or who have disabilities, and increase their access to social services in the Portland area

VOZ Workers' Rights Education Project -- $30,000  to strengthen workforce development training and education programs primarily serving Latino immigrants, and raise the profile of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Worker Center in Portland

Women's Foundation of Oregon -- $20,000 over two years to support a Momentum Fellow position

 
 
 

Education

Elevate Oregon -- $50,000  to support culturally responsive, school-based, teacher/mentor programs that promote academic achievement, personal responsibility, and resilience among Portland-area youth, primarily from low-income communities of color

I Have a Dream Foundation -- $180,000 over three years to support the Dreamer Project to provide holistic, wraparound services to improve educational outcomes for the entire student body at ALder Elementary in Rockwood, a low-income, culturally diverse neighborhood

  
 
 

Environment

Johnson Creek Watershed Association -- $10,000  to hire bilingual interns from immigrant and refugee communities to lead and coordinate culturally focused community engagement activities for their respective community members

Northwest Earth Institute -- $20,000  to support programs and operations to educate and engage organizations and individuals in sustainability practices

Tualatin Riverkeepers -- $30,000 over three years to support programs and operations to make watershed conservation more inclusive of and responsive to communities of color

Wallowa Land Trust -- $45,000 over three years to support a conservation director position to implement a strategic conservation plan to preserve the environmental, historical, cultural, and agricultural resources of rural Wallowa County

  
 
 

Health & Science

Central City Concern -- $325,000 over two years to construct the Eastside Health and Housing Center in Portland to provide medical and mental health services and affordable housing for homeless and very low-income adults with substance use disorders or medical conditions

Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation -- $80,000 over two years to increase breast cancer awareness and reduce the number of late-stage breast cancer diagnoses among Latinas in Oregon

  
 

 

Humanities

Chetco Historical Memorial Project -- $14,230  to commission and install an interpretive panel to commemorate the heritage of the Chetco Indians on the site of their historic village at the mouth of the Chetco River in Brookings

Cornelius Public Library -- $90,000  to construct the new Cornelius Public Library building to serve a diverse community that includes latino and low-income washington County households

Media Institute for Social Change -- $5,000  to remodel the organization's CITIZEN space to create a dedicated classroom for audio and film production trainings and to further community engagement

Oregon Humanities -- $18,000  to support programs and operations to promote civic dialogue and critical thinking across communities in rural and urban Oregon