SE Uplift Neighborhood Coalition Awards $25,520.50 in Neighborhood Small Grants to 11 Community Projects for 2018
Now in its 11th year, the Neighborhood Small Grants program funds small but powerful community efforts aimed at increasing the number and diversity of people engaged in the civic sphere, strengthening community capacity to create social change, and increasing community impact on public decisions and community life.
Funded projects range from Latinx youth leadership trainings to bikeway street art, forums connecting housed and unhoused neighbors, a student volunteer fair, new citizen voter education, a multicultural festival, and much more.
A huge thank you to all 24 grant applicants we received and our Neighborhood Small Grants Review Committee – Briana Pedroni, Dan Shramek, Gabriela Saldana, Hope Asana, Mari Tamiyasu, and Stephanie Weizer – for their careful consideration and funding recommendations.
Neighborhood Small Grants are made possible by the City of Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement. Below is a complete list of funded projects.
And be sure to join us at our Neighborhood Small Grants Celebration.
April 5, 2018 // 7-8:30 PM
SE Uplift // 3534 SE Main St
Learn more and RSVP here!
Benson High School Tech Geometry Program, Benson High School Build for Portland Mercado Plaza
Award Amount: $2,486.50
Benson Polytechnic High School’s Tech Geometry is a contextualized math class that teaches geometry to 9th graders through applied community building projects. In spring 2018, 96 students in Benson’s two Tech Geometry classes will build outdoor seating, stairs, and a bandshell/stage for Portland Mercado’s plaza. This project will connect Benson’s students with their community, specifically Portland’s Latinx community and enhance Portland Mercado’s ability to serve as a cultural hub in southeast Portland.
Creston-Kenilworth Neighborhood Association, Foster is Neon
Award Amount: $2,200
“Foster is Neon” is a street art project that seeks to strengthen community engagement, relationships, and capacity along the Center Street Greenway in the Creston- Kenilworth and Foster-Powell Neighborhoods. The project team will host a series of charrettes aimed at engaging the diverse communities that live in the area in collaboratively designing and developing wayfinding improvements for the bike boulevard. The project will culminate with a block party during the Foster Second-Saturday Art Walk where community members will be invited to help paint the intersection.
Edúcate Ya, AVANZA Latinx Young Adult Leadership Program
Award Amount: $3,500
AVANZA is a Latinx young adult leadership program that brings together a diverse, supportive group and empowers participants to be agents of social change. The objectives of AVANZA are to increase leadership capacity of participants, build a social support network, and contribute to positive community change. Over the course of eight weeks, 10-15 participants will meet weekly to hear from Latinx leaders, gain leadership and personal development skills, and collaborate with each other on a culminating community project.
The Foster Powell Community Shelter Engagement Team, The Foster Powell Community Shelter Engagement Project
Award Amount: $2,512
The project team will facilitate two community forums in which housed and unhoused neighbors will engage in a guided visioning process to develop shared priorities and supportive measures meeting the diverse needs of unhoused and housed neighbors. The goal of this project is to identify unanswered concerns and underutilized community resources and align the community around concepts of how they want to support the success of the coming Foster community shelter.
Impact NW, Parent Leadership Project
Award Amount: $1,742
Impact NW will engage under-supported, marginalized families with children ages 0-5 in Multnomah County to participate in their Parent Leadership Project, which includes the Parent Advisory Council and parent-led Parent-Child Interaction groups. Participating parents attend trainings on decision-making and leadership, trauma-informed care, and advocacy. The project aims to provide empowerment opportunities for deeper engagement and enhanced community support to ensure that Impact NW’s early childhood programming is culturally responsive and inclusive, and incorporates the needs, desires, and innate strengths and knowledge of the families they serve.
Passion Impact, Spring Volunteer Fair
Award Amount: $3,500
Passion Impact will bring 20 Franklin High School students together with community mentors to collaboratively organize and host a volunteer fair for their school. These students will gain leadership skills and experience in event planning, budgeting, marketing, fundraising, and volunteer coordination. The project will also engage an additional 65 student volunteers for the event, 25 nonprofit participants, and 250 student attendees who will learn about the variety of ways they can get involved in their community and explore their passions through volunteering.
Street Books, A Library for Everyone: Celebrating Community Through Books
Award Amount: $1,715
Street Books will host weekly library shifts to provide books and community conversations to people living at the St. Francis Park affordable housing complex in southeast Portland, as well as their neighbors who live on the streets outside, along on 11th Avenue. They will also host a summer celebration aimed at connecting housed and unhoused neighbors over the shared love of books.
Transition Projects, Art with Heart: Art Classes for the Willamette Center
Award Amount: $1,075
Transition Projects will expand and improve their Art with Heart program to provide Willamette Center shelter residents with free art classes twice monthly. The classes give residents opportunities for creative self-expression, increase residents’ confidence and self-worth, and build relationships between housed and unhoused communities.
Unity through Diversity Club, Portland Community College, SE Campus, Multicultural Night
Award Amount: $2,500
The Unity through Diversity Club at Portland Community College, Southeast Campus will organize a multicultural night and student conference that includes food, storytelling, workshops, panel discussions, dancing, music, and art. The purpose of this project is to educate students, families, faculty, staff, and local community members about the various cultures represented within the Portland community and to provide educational opportunities around issues of social justice and cultural competency. The project also aims to create cross-cultural connections within the community and provide leadership opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds.
Voting Equity Advocacy Team, New Citizen Voter Education Project
Award Amount: $1,290
The Voting Equity Advocacy Team, working in partnership with the Multnomah County Elections Division, will design and deliver voter education to new citizens in SE Portland. Through focus groups, tours of the Elections Division building, and Voter Education and Outreach activities, they hope to increase the number and diversity of people who are involved and engaged in the voting process, strengthen their knowledge and skills, and increase community impact on public decisions and community life.
Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project, Developing High-Level Day Laborer Leadership
Award Amount: $3,000
With the goal of cultivating and supporting high-level day laborer leaders, Voz will organize three targeted leadership development workshops for Day Laborer Committee members and support day laborer leaders in organizing two community speaking engagements.