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JULY 1,2012
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One grant will help teach local
youth how to make bows
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
Spirit Mountain Community
Fund awarded $553,640 in grants
to 31 recipients during the second
quarterly series of check presenta
tions for this year.
Director Kathleen George an
nounced the grants at a June 13
meeting held in the Tribal gym.
"The Grand Ronde Tribe has
overcome many challenges to build
a community, a new homeland,
restore Tribal culture and develop
many services and jobs for both
Tribal and nonTribal people. But
our own challenges have not over
shadowed our awareness of the
needs of others," George said.
'The community took care of us
when we were terminated," Tribal
Vice Chair Reyn Leno said, "and
our commitment now is to take care
of this community."
Leno, who sits on the Community
Fund's Board of Trustees, said that
the Tribal community does not
agree on everything, but giving
money through Spirit Mountain
Community Fund is something ev
erybody agrees is "one of the good
things we do."
Recipients were:
Altrusa International Inc., $4,000
for a project called KidzShop;
Ayla Birth, $4,000 for prenatal,
birth and postpartum breast
feeding support for inmates and
caregivers;
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lane
County, $15,000 for a school
based mentoring program;
Bradley Angle House, $40,000
for culturally-specific domestic
violence support, shelter and
advocacy services;
Bringing Back the Bow Corp.,
$3,500 for the Grand Ronde tra
ditional bow building camp;
Carlton Together Cares Inc.,
$20,000 for a summer youth work
experience program;
Casa of Lane County, $20,000
7
Photo by Ron Karten
Spirit Mountain Community Fund Director Kathleen George speaks to grant
recipients during the fund's second quarter check presentation in the Tribal
gymnasium on Wednesday, June 13.
for a program called A Voice for
Every Child;
Center for Earth Leadership,
$4,000 to strengthen and expand
the Citizen Agent of Change net
work; Children's Relief Nursery, $35,000
for building healthy families;
Circus Project, $5,000 for the
"High Flyers" circus outreach
program for at-risk youth;
Constructing Hope Pre-Appren-ticeship
Program, $24,140 for
addressing workplace and life
skills barriers for employment;
Friends of Family Farmers,
$10,000 for ensuring that the next
generation of farmers are socially
and ecologically responsible;
Hand2Mouth Theatre, $5,000 for
"Something's Got Ahold of My
Heart";
Library Foundation Inc., serving
the people of Multnomah County,
$10,000 for the Social Stories
Pilot Project: connecting at-risk
families with the library;
Native Arts and Cultures Foun
dation Inc., $25,000 challenge
grant for a community-based
initiative;
Northwest Earth Institute,
$16,300 for increasing access
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to sustainability education for
emerging student leaders;
Northwest Kidney Kids, $5,000
for Kidney Camp 2012;
Old Mill Center for Children
and Families Inc., $20,000 for
the Relief Nursery Child Abuse
Prevention program;
Oregon Children's Foundation,
$50,000 for Yamhill County
SMART programs;
Oregon Coast Children's The
atre, $7,500 for the "World Life"
Environmental Science and Arts
Educational program;
Oregon Cultural Access, $4,000
for Inclusive Arts Vibe program;
Oregon Health and Science Uni
versity Foundation, $25,000 for
training health professionals
while supporting the health of
Oregon's underserved;
Oregon Native American Cham
ber, $20,000 for capacity building
for a better future for Oregon's
Native communities;
Portland Community Reinvest
ment Initiatives Inc., $40,000
for healthy food access for the
Portland housing community;
Relief Nursery Inc., $50,000 for
Relief Nursery of Springfield;
Returning Veterans Project,
$15,000 for the 2012 Service En
hancement project;
South Lane Mental Health Ser
vices Inc., $20,000 for expansion
of Children and Families Mental
Health Services;
Sustainable Urban Neighbor
hoods, $5,000 for the 2012 Com
munity Harvest program;
SWSC Community Projects,
$1,200 for Saidie's Cupboard,
which provides essential house
hold and infant care items;
Willamette Heritage Center at
The Mill, $20,000 for the creation
of the new Kalapuya History and
Cultural Gallery.
The challenge grant to the Native
Arts and Cultures Foundation serves
as an incentive to help the group le
verage more money. It requires that
90 percent of the funding needed for
the project, including the Commu
nity Fund grant, be raised before the
Tribal funds are released.
Additionally, the Tina Miller
Teen Club of Willamina, scheduled
to receive a $5,000 Celebration
Grant at the Community Fund's 15
year celebration in May, received
its check. The group was unable to
attend the 15-year celebration, but
attended the June 13 event.
The Tina Miller Teen Club was
the selection of Tribal Council
member and Community Fund
Board of Trustee Steve Bobb Sr.
He remembered when Tina Miller
sat on her porch, which is now the
entrance to Willamina City Hall,
with a "herd of cats. She took care
of all the strays, so it's very fitting
that the teen center is named after
her. It's a place where kids know
that they're cared about, where
they know that they're loved."
The $3,500 grant to Bringing
Back the Bow will help fund a tradi
tional bow camp at the Tribal Pow
wow Grounds on June 27-30. This
is the first year for this traditional
bow-building class in Grand Ronde,
run by Jack and Brenda Holthaus,
who have brought similar classes to
Tribal peoples across the country.
At the time of the presentation,
Jack was on the Pine Ridge Reser
vation with the program and was
headed next for the Cheyanne Res
ervation, both in South Dakota.
The funds are used to buy bow
wood staves and arrows, and to
pay teachers, said Brenda, who
accepted the check. The Grand
Ronde class, set up in conjunction
with Tribal Cultural Education
Specialist Brian Krehbiel, is ex
pected to teach 100 to 125 Tribal
and community youth how to make
traditional bows.
A $20,000 grant to Willamette
Heritage Center at The Mill will
help fund a permanent Kalapuya
exhibit in the Parsonage building.
Scheduled to open in May 2013,
the exhibit will be part of three
redesigned permanent exhibits at
the heritage center.
The Community Fund Board of
Trustees selected the 31 recipients
in an April meeting from 110 appli
cations, Administrative Assistant
Kluane Baer said. This compares
with 28 grants totaling $388,200 in
the fourth quarter of last year, but
41 grants totaling $1,130,511 for
the second quarter five years ago
before the 2008 national recession,
Baer said.
The fund has provided more than
$56 million to local nonprofits since
its inception in 1997. In recent
years, that has translated into do
nations of about $3 million a year
to local programs and services. The
grants benefit citizens striving for
self-sufficiency and come through
Spirit Mountain Community Fund,
the Hatfield Fellowship and the
Oregon Tribal Grant program.
The Community Fund funds
projects in the areas of Arts &
Culture, Education, Health, His
toric Preservation, Public Safety,
Environmental Preservation and
Problem Gaming.
The annual total of grants repre
sents 6 percent of the profits from
Spirit Mountain Casino and is
the result of negotiations between
the state and Tribe as part of the
license application for Spirit Moun
tain Casino.
George called the work of Spirit
Mountain Community Fund "in
spiring and humbling." B