10
S moke S ignals
JULY 1, 2016
Community Fund surpasses $70 million in giving
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
Young people at their most vul-
nerable were the primary bene-
ficiaries of this quarter’s Spirit
Mountain Community Fund dis-
tribution held in Grand Ronde on
Wednesday, June 15, at the Tribal
Community Center.
During the ceremony, Spirit
Mountain Community Fund also
surpassed the $70 million mark
for charitable giving since its in-
ception in 1997. The fund has now
distributed 2,317 grants to 1,038
organizations and all nine federally
recognized Tribes in Oregon.
Twenty-nine grants were made
during the June distribution with
25 large grants of $5,000 or more
totaling $910,005 and five small
grants of $5,000 each. Total distri-
bution was $935,005 to organiza-
tions that work on issues related
to health, education and environ-
mental preservation.
The three largest grants were
for $75,000 and went to Bridge
Meadows, an intergenerational
housing community in north Port-
land; Catholic Community Services
Foundation, an apartment recon-
struction project for young preg-
nant women; and Looking Glass
Youth and Family Services for its
2016 capital campaign.
Spirit Mountain Community
Fund Director Kathleen George
welcomed large grantee represen-
tatives to the Community Center.
“Welcome to Grand Ronde,” said
George. “It is always wonderful to
have you with us here today. We
are celebrating 29 new grants and
we have a very, very special way of
getting things started. We have an
exclusive group; these folks don’t
sing for just everybody.”
Culture Department Manager
Kathy Cole joined Chinuk Teacher
Jeff Mercier, Chinuk Immersion
Apprentice Santiago Atanacio,
Public Affairs Administrative As-
sistant Chelsea Clark, Culture De-
partment Office Assistant Nicholas
Atanacio, Teen Pregnancy Preven-
tion Specialist Cristina Lara and
Chinuk Wawa Teaching Assistant
Zoey Holsclaw in leading children
from the Chinuk Immersion class
in singing two drum songs.
George then introduced Sho Do-
zono, chairman of the Spirit Moun-
tain Community Fund Board of
Directors.
“Thank you for what you do for
our communities because you do
the hard work,” said Dozono, a
Portland businessman. “You are
the best.”
George introduced her staff,
Program Coordinator Louis King
and Grants Coordinator Julia
Willis, and Willis announced that
the Community Fund has given
$70,157,648.10 in its 19 years.
“They have all the answers,”
George said of King and Willis.
George then asked guests to
pause for a moment to remember
the victims of the nightclub shoot-
ing that occurred in Orlando, Fla.
“Please take a minute to think of
the lives lost and the families whose
lives were changed forever,” George
said. “It always feels difficult after
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Victory Academy Founder and Director of School Tricia Hasbrook talks with
Spirit Mountain Community Fund Program Coordinator Louis King during
the fund’s quarterly grant presentation held in the Tribal Community Center
on Wednesday, June 15. The nonprofit, which is a year-round accredited
school for children affected by autism, received a $25,000 grant for its
community-based after school program for children with autism.
such a senseless tragedy to just
move on. Of course we don’t move
on. And yet the work of helping our
Elders, helping the most vulnerable
continues and you folks here today
answer that need. We are honored
to support your ability to meet
those needs.
“It’s hard at times to remain
hopeful, but I think that we here
at Spirit Mountain Community
Fund are fortunate because we get
to see the heroism of people helping
the most vulnerable and the most
needy every day. We get to work
with heroes. And you are those
heroes.”
George said that the day’s grant
recipients are reasons to be opti-
mistic.
“It is because of people in this
room, people here today, sitting in
these chairs before us that more
than 100 rural kids will have a
safe and educational place to be
when school is not in session,”
said George. “That’s a reason for
hope. And 16 children who have
life-changing challenges due to or-
thodontic problems will get braces
at no cost to their families. And
that’s a reason for hope.”
After George showed the fund’s
informational video about the
Tribe and its history, she turned
the check distribution over to King,
who announced the names of grant-
ees while Dozono handed out the
checks.
“We thank you for the hard work
you do,” King said.
The first organization to receive
a $50,000 check was Advantage
Smiles for Kids from Redmond.
Advantage Smiles is a nonprofit
organization founded in 2003 to
provide dental care for at-risk,
low-income children.
Advantage’s Executive Director
Michael Vendrame accepted the
check from Dozono.
“This program specifically focus-
es on helping those kids that are
suffering because they are being
bullied and ridiculed because of the
aesthetic look of their teeth,” said
Vendrame. “Orthodontic need is not
enough. It has to be where the child
doesn’t smile, doesn’t participate in
class, they don’t raise their hand.
We have kids that don’t go out on
recess. We have a large amount of
kids’ homeschooled or doing online
school because their social peer
relationships were a disaster. They
were suffering terribly.”
Vendrame said the private-
ly-funded program focuses specifi-
cally on children who need the care
the most and that each child they
help is first referred to them from
teachers, counselors and Court Ap-
pointed Special Advocates.
George said she also takes pride
in seeing that the Board of Direc-
tors saw fit to fund the local CASA
organization out of Corvallis, as
well.
CASA Voices for Children re-
ceived a $30,000 check to help pay
the cost for advocate training.
The organization’s mission is to
recruit, train and professionally
support court-appointed communi-
ty volunteers to advocate for abused
and neglected children during court
proceedings.
“Truly a tremendously vulner-
able community,” said George of
children identified for help through
CASA. “Our kids who have been
removed from their homes and have
gone into the state child welfare
system, these kids are at tremen-
dous risk. The system they go into
is an incredibly difficult one. Sup-
porting this vulnerable population
is something that is so important
to us.”
CASA Executive Director Kari
Rieck said the relationship with
Spirit Mountain Community Fund
is important to her organization.
She said this is the third time it has
received support from the Commu-
nity Fund and that the organiza-
tion wants to have the same success
the Tribe has had over the years.
“There is so much hope when you
come and get the presentation and
see how the Tribe has thrived,”
Rieck said. “To go back and do that
for our children in our community
is such a powerful thing. It really
energizes me when I leave here. I’m
always humbled and inspired after
leaving the awards ceremony. I
have great respect for the resiliency
and generosity of the Tribe.”
Another grant recipient was
Incight, whose mission is to un-
lock the potential of people with
disabilities by supporting and em-
powering education, employment
and independence.
Incight Founder and Develop-
ment Director Scott Hatley and
Executive Director Chris Chiac-
chierini received the nonprofit’s
$35,000 check.
Hatley said the organization
has previously received support
for its scholarship and internship
programs.
“We’ve been very fortunate over
the years to receive a number of
grants from Spirit Mountain Com-
munity Fund,” said Hatley. “We are
just so appreciative of the opportu-
nities that are provided specifically
for us with creating more opportu-
nities for people with disabilities.”
Hatley said the Community Fund
is currently supporting Incight’s
curriculum project.
“What we noticed was there was
a need for transition teachers that
work with transition students with
disabilities in high school,” said
Hatley.
He said the curriculum project
will focus on getting students to
succeed in their education and job
pursuit once they complete their
education goals. The curriculum
project and its 50 lesson plans will
be rolled out this fall.
“Incight is an amazing organiza-
tion,” said George. “The particular
project we are going to support is to
expand their program that reaches
into the school system and reaches
out to those kids that our system
has labeled ‘special ed.’ It is very
rare that schools form plans for the
success of these kids. I think what
is fantastic about Incight is it is
an organization that just stepped
in and started addressing these
inequities.”
George said the funding priorities
for children are to intervene as
early as possible.
“Those early investments are
highly prioritized,” said George.
“We feel it’s the right thing to do.
These projects will give hope and
that changes the world.”
Name changes in Tribal Court
Tribal Court provides both minor and adult name changes to enrolled
members for a filing fee of only $30. If you have any questions or would
like to request a packet, contact Devin Larsen at 503-879-2303 or devin.
larsen@grandronde.org.