By Kris McDowell
The SE Uplift Neighborhood Coalition is proud to announce that it has awarded grants totaling over $76,000 to 24 community groups for projects that will take place throughout inner SE Portland in 2024. Now in its 17th year, the grants program is made possible through funds provided by the City of Portland’s Office of Community and Civic Life.
“We’re grateful to the volunteers on this year’s Grant Review Committee for their thoughtful evaluation of each proposal, and how they came together to recommend to our board the 24 incredible projects that will soon take place in neighborhoods throughout inner SE Portland,” remarked Executive Director, Nanci Champlin.
A record-setting 57 applications were submitted to SE Uplift for the IDEA Communications Grants and the Community Small Grants. Themes among the projects awarded grants include arts and culture; youth leadership; homelessness and housing justice; inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility; gardening and food sovereignty; and seed money for innovative pilot projects. From local community gardens to a ground breaking LGBTQ+ soccer league, welcome packets for new neighbors and an interactive musical bench for youth, these projects demonstrate the abundant creativity and care that is at the center of our communities.
The IDEA Communications Grants were awarded to four community projects that focus on inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility. One of the recipients, Growing Gardens, has translated a Vietnamese gardening manual that is provided to each participant of their Home Gardens Program. The next step in the process is to gain community feedback and insight through community member review and a focus group regarding the translation.
The other three recipients of IDEA Grants are neighborhood associations. Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association will use the grant funding to maintain their existing web and video conferencing services (the most common way neighbors engage with the association), as well as expand their capacity to engage directly with neighbors at local community spaces. Reed Neighborhood Association will be creating inclusive and translated postcards and print materials for underserved populations living in apartment complexes, nursing homes and local businesses. Richmond Neighborhood Association produces and hand-delivers a newsletter four times a year that reaches over 4,000 residents and businesses, a project the grant money will be used to support.
The Community Small Grants program builds the skills and capacity of project leaders to shape the place where they live, creating confidence and growing ongoing engagement of new community leaders. “The SE Uplift Neighborhood Coalition’s Community Small Grants program provides a powerful way to support inspiring work by local groups to build connections and foster improvements within our inner southeast Portland district,” says Alex Cherin, SE Uplift’s Partnerships and Grantmaking Programs Manager. “I am excited about the big impact these groups will make with a relatively small amount of funding.” The following 20 organizations received the grants.
Black and Beyond the Binary Collective
Welcoming New Neighbor (Eastmoreland Neighborhood Association)
Eastside Jewish Commons
Empower House
Friends of Portland Community Gardens
Growing Gardens
Lavender League
Liberated Stories
MediaRites
Montavilla Collective Beautification Project
Montavilla Farmers Market
Municipal Eco Resiliency Project
Naturally Beautiful Project Academy
Portland Area Theatre Alliance
Portland Indigenous Marketplace
Reading Results
Samewave Upstart Program
Shelter Now
Squires
The Shadow Project
For additional information about the grant recipients, their grant-funded projects and SE Uplift, visit seuplift.org, and mark your calendar for the annual Grantee Mixer, Thursday, June 6.