April 04, 2007

Oregon nonprofits receive half a million dollar boost from PGE Foundation in first quarter 2007
Grants focus on college scholarships, youth philanthropy, mentoring, homelessness, domestic violence and basic health care

Portland, Ore. — Nonprofits across the state got a boost from the PGE Foundation — Portland General Electric’s corporate foundation — through 45 grants totaling $527,300 in the first quarter of 2007. In its ten years, the Foundation has distributed approximately $10.5 million to Oregon nonprofits.

The PGE Foundation is committed to helping communities across Oregon grow and thrive by investing in nonprofit organizations. The Foundation funds programs in three categories: strengthening and delivering quality education, promoting healthy families and individuals, and helping to make arts and culture accessible to all Oregonians, especially children.

The Foundation made 11 grants totaling $267,500 to enhance education across the state. Two major grants continue the Foundation’s tradition of long-term commitments to leading education programs:

• Community 101^SM (statewide) — $115,000 to fund the Foundation’s student grantmaking program, giving students the opportunity to learn about community needs and apply those lessons through making grants to local nonprofits. Now in its tenth year, Community 101 operates 36 programs that reach more than 1,200 youth around the state.
  
  
• Oregon Independent College Foundation (statewide) — $100,000 to fund 39 PGE Foundation scholarships for students attending Concordia, George Fox, Lewis & Clark, Linfield, Marylhurst, Pacific, Reed, University of Portland, Warner Pacific and Willamette. The grant continues PGE’s 54-year tradition of contributions to OICF.

In addition to support for high school and college education, the Foundation focused giving on mentoring programs, with awards to:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest (Portland) — $5,000 to expand the Teen Bigs program, matching high school juniors and seniors with at-risk elementary school students in one-on-one relationships in East Multnomah County.
  
  
• Caldera (Central Oregon) — $5,000 to foster creativity among underserved youth through weekly mentoring with artists.
  
  
• Minds Matter (Portland) — $5,000 to match bright, motivated inner-city high school students with dedicated mentors to help achieve academic excellence and expand their educational horizons.
  
  
• Mentor Athletics (Wilsonville) — $2,500 to provide soccer team experience and long-term mentoring relationships to low-income youth.

Other education grants included:

• Community Transitional School (Portland) — $20,000 to help the 16-year-old school for Portland’s homeless children build its first permanent home.
  
  
• Neighborhood House (Portland) — $5,000 to support the Markham SUN School with curriculum, instruction and meals during its Summer Literacy Project for students learning English.
  
  
• Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (Portland) — $5,000 to help support the Salmon Camp Research team, a year-long preservation and scientific training camp for Native American students.
  
  
• Friends of Cornelius Library — $2,500 to support weekly preschool story time in English and Spanish.
  
  
• North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District — $2,500 to support the children’s summer reading program.

PGE Foundation grants also support the physical and emotional health of families and individuals through strong local programs. Support services for victims of domestic violence throughout Oregon were awarded $35,000 in seven separate grants:

• CASA Columbia Gorge (Hood River) and CASA for Children (Clackamas County) — $5,000 each to support trained volunteers in advocating for abused and neglected children.
  
  
• Juliette’s House Child Abuse Assessment Center (McMinnville) — $5,000 for the Safe Kids program focused on abuse prevention through elementary school presentations.
  
  
• Volunteers of America (Portland) — $10,000 to assist clients in returning to permanent housing after emergency shelter due to domestic violence, homelessness or poverty.
  
  
• Mountain Star Family Relief Nursery (Bend) — $5,000 to expand services to prevent child abuse and neglect in Deschutes County.
  
  
• Central Oregon Battering and Rape Alliance (Bend) — $3,000 to help expand the children’s program.
  
  
• Insights Teen Parent Program (Portland) — $2,000 to provide services and support to pregnant and parenting teens through domestic violence prevention and intervention.

Other grants targeted homelessness, safety net programs and help for the elderly and disabled to maintain independence, including:

• My Father’s House (Gresham) — $20,000 to expand capacity to provide emergency housing for homeless families.
  
  
• Community Outreach Inc. (Corvallis) — $10,000 to support the agency’s crisis intervention, information and referral program, the only 24-hour local crisis line serving Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties.
  
  
• Portland Rescue Mission — $10,000 to expand services provided through the Shepherd’s Door shelter supporting homeless mothers and their children.
  
  
• South Coast Community Resource Center (Gold Beach) — $10,000 to support existing safety net programs for children and families.
  
  
• Kids on the Block Awareness Program (Portland) — $7,500 to support the Preventing School Violence and Bullying program, through free puppet performances and teachers’ materials.
  
  
• Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette (Portland) — $7,000 to expand the Teen Council Peer Education Program into North/Northeast Portland, providing a network of community-based teen councils to reach out to schools, community organizations and informal peer networks.
  
  
• Metropolitan Family Service (Portland) — $6,000 to recruit, train and coordinate volunteers for Project Linkage which helps older adults remain independent in their own homes.
  
  
• Store to Door (Portland) — $6,000 to provide grocery shopping and food delivery services for seniors and people with disabilities.
  
  
• Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (Portland) — $5,000 to support the HIV Day Center’s Daily Bread Express meals program, serving clients with home-delivered meals.
  
  
• The Dougy Center (Portland) — $2,500 to support grieving children through the center’s Teen Troupe program.

Three grants, totaling $20,000, went to programs to provide health care to the uninsured, including:

• Essential Health Clinic (Hillsboro) — $7,500 to fund a new weekly health clinic in the Tigard/Tualatin area for uninsured individuals and families.
  
  
• The Rinehart Clinic (Wheeler) — $7,500 to provide free prescription drugs to qualifying patients.
  
  
• Volunteers in Medicine Clinic (Eugene) — $5,000 to support the clinic’s mental health program, the only program in Lane County offering free, on-site mental health screening, counseling and treatment for low-income, uninsured individuals.

The Foundation awarded 14 grants to arts and culture programs, totaling $120,800:

• Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland) — $40,000 (payable over two years) for renovation of the theatre’s buildings in southwest Portland.
  
  
• Shedd Institute for the Arts (Eugene) — $20,000 for renovation of the performing arts center.
  
  
• Museum at Warm Springs — $10,000 to support the “Remembering Celilo Falls” traveling exhibit, providing insights to the Native American traditions on the Columbia River before The Dalles Dam was built.
  
  
• Oregon Children’s Theatre (Portland) — $10,000 for a statewide rural tour and production of “The Red Badge of Courage,” including educational workshops, study guides and residencies.
  
  
• Profile Theatre Project (Portland) — $10,000 to purchase and install a new lighting system.
  
  
• Sojourn Theatre (Portland) — $10,000 to develop and produce “Good,” a play based on a traditional Chinese folktale exploring morality, prosperity, business, ethics and equity.
  
  
• Homowo African Arts & Cultures (Portland) — $5,000 to introduce Dance-4-Life, a new program focused on preventing obesity in students by incorporating African dance with the work of a nutritionist.
  
  
• Washington County Historical Society and Museum — $5,000 to expand and renovate museum space.
  
  
• Arts Council of Pendleton — $2,500 to support the Arts Have Class program by bringing arts immersion instruction to third, fourth and fifth graders.
  
  
• Broadway Rose Theatre Company (Tigard) — $2,500 to sponsor a youth outreach program with the YMCA.
  
  
• Metropolitan Youth Symphony (Portland) — $2,000 to mentor young musicians in an orchestra setting.
  
  
• CALYX (Eugene) — $1,800 to publish literature and art by women.
  
  
• PHAME Academy of Fine Arts (Portland) — $1,000 to support the annual musical production performed by actors with developmental disabilities.
  
  
• Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls (Portland) — $1,000 to support the music program’s girl’s summer camp.

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