TWST Blog

Hello Everyone – I am here to report on the first day of MMT’s Lane and Douglas County TWST. About 40 folks showed up at the Head Start of Lane County this morning wanting to learn about us, but to my chagrin, I was still making my way down I-5 through sluggish traffic at the time. Fortunately, Sami Allen (pictured to the right), the Executive Director of Head Start, was able to begin the meeting without me. Sami took charge and led the group through a community needs discussion and then helped them generate a list of questions about the Trust’s grant program. When I got there, everyone briefed me on the discussion and then we spent the next 2 hours in Q&A. Sami was wonderful. She and her staff (below) stepped in to avoid what would have felt like disaster for me. 

Springfield and Eugene-area nonprofits are experiencing issues similar to those across Oregon – government disinvestment in public services, persistent unemployment, growing numbers of the uninsured, and the decline of local donations and foundation funding. They need stable and increased staffing to support core organizational functions in administration and fund development so that they can continue to deliver their programs. Some of those services represented in the room included positive youth development, Latino youth empowerment, employment services for rural residents, quality public education, access to healthy food, HIV awareness and support programs, service for developmentally disabled individuals, and services for homeless families.   

The group was decidely solution oriented. They talked about developing a service hub for nonprofits where organizations are located together in a nonprofit center. This center would facilitate collaborative program strategy development and implementation, and possibly joint grant applications. This discussion mirrored some of the discussion we had when Meyer Memorial Trust offered grants to groups interested in developing shared nonprofit spaces. Some efforts to do this have been successful, but it takes a lot of planning. I hope these groups continue talking about this.

These are all the questions the group had for me when I arrived:

Another issue that came up was the need for facilities maintenance and repair. With very tight operating margins, maintenance often gets deferred until there is a crisis. They brainstormed an idea to approach the local Home Builders Association (HBA) to see if they might donate facility maintenance services on an annual basis. Some said HBAs in other areas do this, but I don’t know very much about this, so if anyone out there does, please share your story with us.

My message to Springfield and Eugene: "Keep up the good work!" Only about one third of the groups attending this meeting had received grants from MMT, so we look forward to new opportunities to partner with more of you soon.

The next stop on the tour was Oakridge...

Oakridge, a community of about 3,700 residents, is located at the foothills of the Western Cascade Mountains about 45 minutes east of Eugene. Our meeting at the Fire Hall was scheduled at 7 p.m. so that the folks at another meeting for the annual Tree Planting Celebration could attend. This is the 58th year in which trees will be planted as part of a tradition stemming from reforestation efforts begun years ago, in a time when more clear-cutting was allowed in our public forests. A number of the participants in the celebration refer to themselves as “Hoedads”. I believe this name has roots (no pun intended) in a group called the Hoedads Reforestation Cooperative (HFC), a worker-owned tree planting and forestry labor cooperative based in Eugene between 1971 and 1994. Yes, I realize that’s 40 years ago and it doesn’t match up with the 58th anniversary number. So maybe the HFC had its roots with the Hoedads. I report information as I hear it.

Perhaps one of the Oakridge Hoedads can shed light on this. Anyway, here is a story about Hoedadders you might find interesting. Today the tree planting tradition is mostly ceremonial, with just a few trees being planted in area parks. BTW - a hoedad is a hand instrument with a long narrow blade and wooden handle used to plant bare-root trees (see illustration). Swung like an ax into the ground the blade would make the proper size hole for the young trees. 

I was pleasantly surprised when the room filled with 18 folks including the Mayor and City Administrator; representatives from the City Council, Chamber of Commerce, Lane County Electric Cooperative, Volunteer Fire & EMS, and the Oakridge Hazeldell Fire District; folks from the local food pantry, the watershed council, arts & culture organizations; groups promoting recreational tourism; and the pharmacist who is trying to establish a free medical clinic. I was also pleasantly surprised that Sue Bond, the local caterer, “went a little crazy” as she put it, and whipped up an array of sweets that were sinfully delicious. This was not an unusual audience for a rural TWST. It was remarkable to witness their collective enthusiasm for driving economic growth back to this community. They were serious about business, but they were also serious about poking fun at each other. Between the Hoedads, the “GOATS” (Greater Oakridge Area Trail Stewards) and people from “OWL” (Oakridge Westfir Leadership) there was a lot of laughing going on. I felt like I was having dessert at a family reunion.

Back to business, I was disappointed to learn that although everyone knew about Meyer Memorial Trust, only one group had ever applied for and received a grant from us. I hope after our time together we can improve our granting record here. One interesting question came up from several folks that had gone through the Ford Family Foundations Leadership Institute. They asked if MMT awards grants to local community foundations that support local nonprofits. They had heard that this was the way philanthropy was heading. The way this works is the local foundation raises funds, in part from grants to other foundations, and then uses that money to support local groups based on the community’s priorities. We know of local foundations in Oregon that do this, but to my knowledge, MMT has always preferred to fund each group directly. That said, we are always open to suggestions and that I will be taking this and all the other input back with me. So, you see, we were not all play and no business.

At this meeting I learned that “innovation and service” is Oakridge’s mantra. The City Council worked hard to get a CDBG grant to replace the 800 square foot library with a new 3,000 square foot facility. There is no dentist in town, so they rely on an annual visit from the Oregon Dental Foundation’s Tooth Taxi. I noticed it parked outside the elementary school on my way out of town. With the help of a dentist in Eugene and the dental hygienist who recently relocated to Oakridge, the City hopes to open a free dental clinic in the near future. The clinic will be established in a converted shipping container.

Way to go Oakridge! 

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