Just as the effects from the holiday hoopla begin to wear off, the Metro Council gave Northwest Portland residents something to cheer about when it approved a $105,000 grants package earmarked for neighborhood improvements. Funds will fuel the fires of local organizations that deliver aid to local residents and groups that look after our natural environment.
“It’s often said that the worst of times brings out the best in people,” said Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder, chair of the Metro Central grant selection committee and whose district includes Northwest and North Portland. “This program inspires people to step forward and make something extraordinary happen in their neighborhood,” he said.
Funds for the grants are generated from a 50-cent surcharge collected on each ton of garbage disposed of at the Metro Central garbage transfer station in Northwest Portland. Projects must directly benefit residents or neighborhoods around the facility, which includes five residential neighborhoods, Forest Park and the Northwest industrial core.
“If you have lived in these neighborhoods for any period of time, you have seen, and probably benefited from, the hard work of some incredibly committed nonprofit organizations whose staff members and volunteers give their all. These are groups whose programming is highly valued by both service providers and beneficiaries,” said Elizabeth Patte, one of six local activists working with Burkholder to review and select projects to fund. “These grants will have long lasting results, positively affect thousands of neighbors and their surroundings, and offer immediate relief, hope, and opportunity to people in the area.”
The 2010 grant cycle marks the 19th year Metro has invested funds in the community through the Central enhancement program. In that time, more than $2.8 million has been awarded to help fund 264 neighborhood improvement projects.
