June 2011 Awards Announced

This month Meyer Memorial Trust made 80 awards for more than $3.4 million to nonprofit organizations in Oregon and Clark County, Washington. More than three-fourths of the grants (and just over $1 million) were made under MMT's Grassroots Grants program, which provides key support to projects important to smaller nonprofits and/or communities.

These awards bring the total amount funded by MMT since it began operating in 1982 to nearly $535 million.

All June awards are listed below, grouped by funding program:

Responsive Grants/Program-Related Investments

Bethlehem Inn, Bend
Awarded: $125,000
To increase income development to support shelter and other services for people experiencing homelessness
 
Chiloquin Visions in Progress, Chiloquin
Awarded: $20,000
To support an after school and summer enrichment program for elementary school age children
 
Coalition for a Livable Future, Portland
Awarded: $150,000
To support the Coalition's work to advance sustainable, equitable communities in the Portland metropolitan region
 
Direction Service, Eugene
Awarded: $103,715
To help build fundraising capacity of this organization that provides support, service coordination, and advocacy for families of children with disabilities
 
Domestic Violence Resource Center, Inc., Hillsboro
Awarded: $150,000
To create an Advocacy Center that provides comprehensive, holistic victim-centered services to survivors of domestic violence in Washington County
 
Eugene Ballet, Eugene
Awarded: $100,000
PRI: $400,000
To help stabilize the financial condition of the organization by restructuring its loan on the Midtown Arts Center, which provides a permanent home for the Eugene Ballet and several arts organizations
 
Grants Managers Network, Washington
Awarded: $2,500
For annual support

La Pine Park & Recreation District, La Pine
Awarded: $150,000
To renovate a historic building for a community and after school center
 
Native American Youth and Family Center, Portland
Awarded: $200,000
To develop Holgate House, a nine-unit modular affordable housing pilot project for the Native American community
 
Oregon Coast Community Action, Coos Bay
Awarded: $120,000
To support early childhood and out-of-school-time care while the agency works to increase earned income
 
Oregon Environmental Council, Portland
Awarded: $100,000
To support work of addressing global warming, protecting children from toxics, building sustainable economies and promoting healthy food and local farms
 
Physicians Choice Foundation, Salem
Awarded: $75,000
To expand support services for at-risk mothers of newborns in Marion County
 
Proud Ground, Portland
Awarded: $100,000
To support first-time homeownership opportunities through a community land trust/shared-equity model
 
Volunteers In Medicine Clinic, Springfield
Awarded: $100,000
For general operating support of a free medical clinic that serves low-income, uninsured people in Lane County
 
Water Watch of Oregon, Portland
Awarded: $150,000
To support this organization's efforts to protect and restore streamflows in Oregon's rivers
 
Western Rivers Conservancy, Portland
Awarded: $150,000
For core support to permanently protect outstanding Oregon rivers for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people

Grassroots Grants

A Family for Every Child, Springfield
Awarded: $20,000
To expand programming to the Portland area that finds permanent homes for special needs foster care children
 
All Saints Episcopal Church, Vancouver, Vancouver
Awarded: $24,999
To help construct a new facility for a program that provides free car seats, layettes and sibling bags to low income families with newborns
 
Assistance League of Klamath Basin, Klamath Falls
Awarded: $18,000
To improve client and customer access to this organization's clothing distribution center and resale shop
 
Assistance League of Salem, Salem
Awarded: $24,000
For renovations at this agency's used furniture store that generates income to purchase new clothes for children from low income families
 
BARK, Portland
Awarded: $15,000
For a mural along a popular thoroughfare in southeast Portland as part of this organization's campaign to educate Oregonians about the importance of protecting intact forest ecosystems
 
Bend Science Station, Bend
Awarded: $10,000
To develop an equipment lending library to improve science and technology education for youth in central Oregon
 
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Ontario
Awarded: $5,500
To support an emergency food pantry that serves families in rural southeastern Oregon
 
Bouand Dance Company, Portland
Awarded: $5,000
To support the work of this emerging contemporary dance company
 
Boys and Girls Club of Western Lane County, Florence
Awarded: $20,000
To support a teen violence prevention program serving rural Lane County youth
 
Calyx, Corvallis
Awarded: $16,500
To support production of journals and books that feature the art and literature of women
 
Cascades Theatrical Company, Bend
Awarded: $24,000
To support this community theater's equipment upgrades
 
Center for Intercultural Organizing, Portland
Awarded: $25,000
To help build the capacity of this agency that is working to expand and protect rights of immigrant and refugee communities
 
Chemeketa Non-Profit Housing, Salem
Awarded: $6,500
To support a program that provides medical, dental, and employment assistance to low income families in the Salem-Keizer area
 
City of Echo, Echo
Awarded: $25,000
To support this rural community's downtown revitalization efforts
 
City of Weston, Weston
Awarded: $21,550
To support this rural community's safety education and violence prevention program
 
Community Alliance of Lane County, Eugene
Awarded: $15,000
To support education and action programs that counter the oppression of marginalized communities in Lane County
 
Corvallis Arts Center, Inc., Corvallis
Awarded: $14,500
To support main gallery improvements to generate rental income for the Center
 
Forests Forever, Oregon City
Awarded: $25,000
To help complete the Hopkins Demonstration Forest education building
 
Friends of Saturday Academy, Portland
Awarded: $25,000
To help move Saturday Academy to the University of Portland
 
Friends of Trees, Portland
Awarded: $25,000
To support program development and expansion into Eugene
 
Future Farmers of America, Sutherlin, Sutherlin
Awarded: $14,745
To replace a greenhouse at Sutherlin High School that students use to develop career skills in agriculture and business while running an enterprise
 
Greenleaf Industries of Grants Pass, Grants Pass
Awarded: $10,000
To build an agricultural storage shed for this agency that serves as a workplace training center for people with developmental disabilities
 
Harney Helping Organization for Personal Emergencies, Burns
Awarded: $13,220
For repairs to this rural eastern Oregon emergency shelter that serves women and children experiencing abuse
 
Langlois Public Library Foundation, Langlois
Awarded: $2,500
For facility improvements at this library serving rural southwestern Oregon
 
Los Ninos Cuentan, Clackamas
Awarded: $25,000
To support this agency's culturally specific family violence prevention and intervention programs
 
Madonna's Center, Milwaukie
Awarded: $17,880
To support a resource center that helps teen parents care for their children and become self-sufficient
 
Medford Jazz Festival, Medford
Awarded: $8,500
To support a program to stimulate interest in music among youth and make musical instruments available to children from low income families
 
Monument Senior Citizens, Monument
Awarded: $25,000
To support a community garden and food pantry to serve seniors and other low-income residents in rural eastern Oregon
 
Mount Hood Town Hall Association, Mt. Hood / Parkdale
Awarded: $25,000
To make the Town Hall wheelchair accessible
 
My Story, Portland
Awarded: $11,629
To support a community building project within two culturally diverse public housing communities
 
Nature of Words, Bend
Awarded: $15,000
To support a five-day celebration of literary arts and humanities in Oregon's high desert region
 
Nonprofit Network Southwest Washington, Vancouver
Awarded: $14,750
To organize community tours that highlight the work of area nonprofits to encourage local support for these programs
 
On-the-Move Community Integration, Portland
Awarded: $8,120
To support a continuing education program for people with developmental disabilities
 
OPAL, Portland
Awarded: $25,000
To conduct a community campaign to address the public transportation needs of residents in outer east Portland
 
Oregon Center for Christian Values, Portland
Awarded: $21,000
To help faith-based service organizations examine public policies in order to achieve social justice to improve life for all Oregonians
 
Oregon Council for the Humanities, Portland
Awarded: $13,738
To provide fund development support for this agency that provides humanities programming throughout Oregon
 
Oregon Envirothon, Salem
Awarded: $9,400
To provide resources to high school students from rural and economically depressed communities so they can participate in a statewide hands-on environmental problem solving competition
 
Oregon Games, Portland
Awarded: $18,000
To enhance a program that provides athletic and recreational opportunities for people with severe physical disabilities
 
Oregon Paleo Lands Institute, Fossil
Awarded: $25,000
To help this natural history and geology field institute develop and implement a sustainability plan
 
Outreach Gospel Mission, Brookings
Awarded: $21,000
For repairs to the only homeless shelter facility in Curry County
 
Pilot Rock Park and Recreation District, Pilot Rock
Awarded: $5,700
For energy efficiency improvements at this rural town's community center
 
Portland Actors Conservatory, Portland
Awarded: $25,000
For general operating support of this organization that trains students for professional careers in theater and film
 
Portland Festival Ballet, Portland
Awarded: $20,000
For portable dance flooring for ballet performances in a variety of community locations
 
Portland Gay Men's Chorus, Portland
Awarded: $15,000
To offer this organization's choral performances to diverse audiences throughout Oregon
 
Portland in the Round, Portland
Awarded: $5,000
To support a media project to engage east Portland transit riders in identifying transportation needs and influencing transportation policies
 
Portland Metro Arts, Portland
Awarded: $17,080
To support art in schools and provide youth with opportunities to attend programs at the organization's arts center
 
Portland SummerFest, Portland
Awarded: $3,945
For community outreach to conduct a performance of Carmen in a northeast Portland neighborhood
 
Portland Symphonic Choir, Portland
Awarded: $18,686
For technology and equipment upgrades that support this organization's professional symphonic choral masterworks
 
Roseburg Rescue Mission, Roseburg
Awarded: $25,000
To expand the dining hall of this organization that serves homeless men, women and children
 
Sauvie Island Center, Portland
Awarded: $15,000
To help sustain a program that educates youth about food, farming and the land through experiential learning
 
SCRAP School and Community Reuse Action Project, Portland
Awarded: $10,000
To support this agency that inspires environmentally sustainable behavior through creative reuse
 
South Umpqua Traditional Intertribal Powwow, Myrtle Creek
Awarded: $5,000
To support this tribal organization that meets annually at ancestral fishing and hunting grounds to teach Native
children and the broader public about Native American culture
 
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, Brookings
Awarded: $25,000
To support a program in rural southern Oregon that provides free medical and dental treatment and screening for homeless and low income residents
 
Sunny Wolf Charter School, Wolf Creek
Awarded: $23,000
For an outdoor play structure in this rural community school
 
Sunriver Music Festival, Sunriver
Awarded: $10,000
To expand an annual classical music festival
 
Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods, Portland
Awarded: $24,000
To expand a program that provides low income community residents with opportunities to learn to care for urban fruit trees and harvest crops otherwise unused
 
Thelma's Place, Canby
Awarded: $25,000
To expand services in Clackamas, Multnomah, Marion, Washington and Clark counties to individual and families living with Alzheimer's disease
 
United Way of Jackson County, Medford
Awarded: $13,720
For technology upgrades for this agency that provides financial support to nonprofits in southern Oregon
 
Walla Walla Watershed Foundation, Milton-Freewater
Awarded: $12,000
To support academic enrichment activities for students at a summer science camp
 
Western Railway Preservation Society, Baker City
Awarded: $6,200
For a railway restoration project that provides opportunities for at risk high school youth and supports tourism in eastern Oregon
 
Xerces Society, Portland
Awarded: $15,000
To support ecological approaches to mosquito control

Affordable Housing Initiative

CASA of Oregon, Sherwood
Awarded: $200,000
To facilitate resident ownership of manufactured home parks

Willamette River Initiative

Willamette Partnership, Hillsboro
Awarded: $20,000
To support this organization's efforts to improve Oregon's stream restoration program

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