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MARCH 15, 2024
9
Community Fund tops $97 million mark in giving
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals editor
Spirit Mountain Community
Fund awarded more than $500,000
in grants on Tuesday, March 12,
during a check presentation held
in the Governance Center Atrium.
The Community Fund receives
6 percent of proceeds from Spirit
Mountain Casino and awards
that money to nonprofits in 11
northwest Oregon counties to fund
efforts in the areas of arts and cul-
ture, environmental preservation,
education, health, historic preser-
vation and public safety, and to the
nine federally recognized Tribes
in Oregon under the fund’s Tribal
Grants program.
As of the first quarter of 2024, the
Grand Ronde Tribe’s philanthropic
giving now exceeds $97 million with
3,309 grants awarded since 1997.
The Community Fund was cre-
ated as part of the Tribe’s gaming
compact with the state of Oregon.
It is supervised by an eight-member
Board of Trustees that includes
Tribal Council members Denise
Harvey, Brenda Tuomi and Michael
Cherry, who is also a former Com-
munity Fund director.
Tribal Council members who
attended the check presentation
included Tuomi, Jon A. George and
Cherry.
Tuomi welcomed the approxi-
mately 30 attendees to the event.
“It’s an honor to welcome you to our
homelands,” she said. “We celebrate
your generosity, compassion and
the impact it has in our local com-
munities. It serves as a testament
to the shared belief that by working
together we can make a difference.”
Community Fund Executive Di-
rector Angie Sears thanked those
in attendance for making the drive
out to Grand Ronde.
“This check presentation is a
way to recognize and celebrate the
amazing work you are doing in your
communities,” she said.
The check presentation opened
with a prayer and drum song by
George.
Sears introduced Community
Fund employees: Program Co-
ordinator Angela Schlappie, Ad-
ministrative Assistant Pamala
Warren-Chase and Grants Coordi-
“We realized one
of the greatest detri-
ments in poverty is
the lack of hope,” Ovi-
att said.
When the nonprofit
was launched in 2004
in West Salem’s Edge-
water District, only 61
percent of students
in the area graduat-
ed from high school.
None of them went to
college.
Oviatt and his team
set out to change those
statistics and focused
Photos by Michelle Alaimo on building relation-
ships within the com-
Delia Sanchez, an organizer with Water Climate
munity.
Trust, hugs Tribal Council member and Spirit
“It’s only through
Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees
relationships that
Chair Brenda Tuomi as she accepts a grant check
you can mend broken
on behalf of the nonprofit during the Community
hearts and lives,” he
Fund’s quarterly check presentation in the
said. “We were able to
support kids during
Governance Center Atrium on Tuesday, March 12.
the pandemic when
Sanchez is a Grand Ronde Tribal member.
many were struggling
with
isolation
and 100% of the teens
nator Jesse Knight.
in our program graduated high
The attendees then watched a vid-
school.”
eo on the history of the Tribe. After
After the two presentations,
the video, representatives from For-
Knight and Schlappie announced
ward Stride of Beaverton and Salem
the grant recipients.
Dream Center gave brief descrip-
During the check distribution por-
tions about what their organizations
tion,
the Community Fund awarded
seek to do in the community.
6 small grants worth $41,000 and 12
Forward Stride Executive Di-
large grants worth $490,847.
rector Amber Varner said that the
Small grant recipients were:
nonprofit utilizes equine-based
• Assistance League of Portland,
therapy to serve more than 200
$7,500, for its Operation School
clients, including those from the
Bell program;
Native American Rehabilitation
• Firefighters United for Safety,
Association.
Ethics and Ecology of Eugene,
“It is a unique opportunity to
$7,500 for its Oregon Indigenous
utilize horses to assist with edu-
Fire Advocacy Project;
cational goals young people are
• Forward Stride of Beaverton,
working toward,” she said. “The
$5,000, for supporting health
bond between the horse and the
and wellbeing for youth in under-
rider carries through and can be
served communities;
worked on away from the barn.”
• McMinnville Area Habitat for
Salem Dream Center Executive
Humanity, $7,500, for its 2023
Director Craig Oviatt said that his
Women Build townhouse;
organization exists to help young
• Oregon Health and Education
people realize their value, to break
Collaborative of Wilsonville,
the cycle of generational poverty
$7,500, for its Upstream Initia-
and into lives of sufficiency.
The center provides tutoring, men-
toring, study groups, art and cooking
classes, summer camps, holiday pro-
grams, game and movie nights, field
trips, free meals and more.
Peter Carrillo, a grant specialist with Liberty House, is gifted an Ikanum
saddle blanket by Spirit Mountain Community Fund Program Coordinator
Angela Schlappie, left, and Community Fund Executive Director Angie Sears,
right, during the Community Fund’s quarterly check presentation in the
Governance Center Atrium on Tuesday, March 12.
tive program;
• Union Gospel Mission of Salem,
$6,000, for restorative services for
domestic violence survivors.
Large grant recipients were:
• Boys and Girls Club of Corvallis,
$20,000, for its Building Path-
ways out of Poverty program;
• Human Access Project of Port-
land, $49,847, for a Ross Island
Lagoon harmful algae bloom
mitigation cost analysis;
• LatinoBuilt of Portland, $50,000,
for construction education and
technical assistance;
• Liberty House of Salem, $50,000,
for access to frontline pediatric
care and interviewing services;
• Long Tom Watershed Council of
Eugene, $50,000, for traditional
ecocultural education for Native
youth and families;
• Native Fish Society of Oregon
City, $25,000, for its Wild Fish
Community program;
• Northwest Housing Alternatives
of Milwaukie, $50,000, for edu-
cation supports for low-income
children in Oregon,
• Portland State University Foun-
dation, $50,000, for a student
camp at PSU for Native students,
• Salem Dream Center, $50,000,
for its Build the Dream program;
• University of Oregon Foundation
of Eugene, $41,000, for its Roots
of Empathy program;
• Water Climate Trust of Klamath
Falls, $35,000, for its Oregon Wa-
ter Justice Alliance program;
• Wayside Friends Church of New-
berg, $20,000, for Camp Wayside
2024.
Three beaded necklaces were
raffled off after the grant recipi-
ents were announced. An Ikanum
saddle blanket designed by Tribal
member Travis Stewart went to
Liberty House.
Cherry closed the event by thank-
ing all of the nonprofits for their
work.
“As a member of this board, it is
an honor and privilege to extend
our congratulations and gratitude
to you,” she said.
Community Fund seeking
Hatfield Fellow applicants
Applications for the 2024-25 Hatfield Fellowship program funded by
Spirit Mountain Community Fund are being accepted through Tuesday,
April 30.
Spirit Mountain Community Fund annually sponsors a Native American
to serve as the Hatfield Fellow and intern in an Oregon congressional
office. Placement of the fellow rotates through the Oregon delegation to
enhance mutual understanding between leadership in Washington, D.C.,
and Indian Country.
Fellows are provided an opportunity to gain knowledge and understand-
ing of how to navigate the political process in Washington, D.C., while
working on issues that affect Native Americans.
Fellows begin their Capitol Hill experience in November with a month-
long orientation at the American Political Science Association, which is
followed by an eight-month term working in a congressional office. The
fellowship includes a monthly stipend and relocation and travel expenses.
The fellowship is for Tribal members from the nine federally recognized
Tribes in Oregon, as well as members of Pacific Northwest Tribes. Pref-
erence will be given to members of Oregon Tribes. Applicants must have
a bachelor’s degree or be graduating in June 2024, and be 21 or older.
For more information, visit thecommunityfund.com/grants-programs/
hatfield-fellowship or go to youtu.be/7TOnNoFgUYs to watch an infor-
mational video about the Hatfield Fellowship.
The fellowship was created in 1998 to honor the late Sen. Mark Hat-
field’s public service to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.