Dear Friends,

We need your help – as reported elsewhere in this newsletter, SE Uplift is preparing to launch our new Creative Engagement Grant program. We developed this idea after the current City of Portland budget eliminated the last funds available to our neighborhoods through the ONI Neighborhood Small Grant program. The Small Grants Program has provided critical resources to our Neighborhood Associations and other community partners for many years now, and we were concerned to lose it.

So, dreaming big, we put on our first ever annual benefit event in an attempt to raise the seed funds to establish our new grant program. Thanks to all who participated in Knock, Knock! It’s Your Neighbor – we raised $2,269!

Now we want to increase the funds available this first year of our grant program to $5,000, a level that will ensure the program can provide enough resources to our community to make a difference. This is where you come in. Your tax-deductible donation to this new grant program will support the creation of original neighborhood-based projects that will inspire us all to think about and engage in our community in new ways. I said we were thinking big, right? We want this fund to serve as a catalyst for new and innovative community partnerships to invigorate our renowned Neighborhood Association system – and our shared commitment to effective civic engagement in the 21st century.

We’re halfway there. Read more about our new grant program in this newsletter, and then make your donation today. We appreciate any amount you can contribute – it will make a difference. We accept donations via Paypal (be sure and note that your donation is for the SE Uplift Small Grant fund), or you can send us a check at our office – SE Uplift, 3534 SE Main St, Portland 97214.

Thank you so much,

Anne Dufay
Executive Director, SE Uplift Neighborhood Coalition