City Offers Approximately $189,000 in Neighborhood Small Grants [Updated]

The Office of Neighborhood Involvement will offer approximately $189,000 in grants to groups, organizations, and initiatives that serve to strengthen neighborhoods and communities.

When it comes to funding community-based projects, a little financial help is better than none. Now in its sixth year, the neighborhood small grants program, run by the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI), will offer approximately $189,000 in grants to groups, organizations, and initiatives that serve to strengthen neighborhoods and communities.

Run through the city’s neighborhood coalition offices, the neighborhood small grants program is a way for groups with little or no funding to get off the ground or sustain momentum. “[The goal] is helping groups in the community build relationships and learn to work together,” says Paul Leistner, neighborhood program coordinator for ONI. “Whether it’s neighborhood associations, business associations, or other cultural groups and organizations in the community.”

Part of what makes the small grants program such an effective tool at the local level is that while ONI provides overarching criteria for potential grant recipients, neighborhood coalitions are able to modify the standards to attract groups that fit particularly well within the area. “We’re having a little more flexibility this year than in the past,” says Leistner. “Partly to recognize that different parts of the city are different, the cultures are different, and that this really is a bottoms-up, community driven program.”

Last year’s round of grants, which made about $90,000 available citywide, has already paid some visible dividends within Portland’s communities. Spencer Burton, founder and leader of the Boise-Eliot market, says that the $1,780 his project received last year through the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN) was enough to get construction up and running. “We used that money for posters and flyers and also to help with the cob benches that are out there,” he says. 

Burton also received money from ONI as part of its graffiti abatement program. Instead of going towards simple graffiti removal, the funds are going towards a large mural project on N Mississippi.

“I think these are all great things,” says Burton of the grant programs. “It’s small amounts of money but it’s money well spent.”

In the next few months, neighborhood coalitions will offer information sessions and grant writing workshops for those interested in applying for grants. Interested parties will be able learn what specific coalitions are seeking from their applicants. Imani Muhammad, who co-manages the small grants process for NECN, says that her coalition is looking for organizations that will bring lasting positive change at the community level.

Muhammad says that NECN, which has nearly $28,000 in grant money available this year, changed the language of its grant application to include an appeal for organizations that “increase and sustain involvement in the neighborhood associations, the district coalition, and communities at large.”

She says that this sort of involvement has come in many different forms over the last few years. “There have been a variety of proposals that have been awarded, from after school programs, to community gardens, to murals for the graffiti money.” 

One important reason why so many different organizations have received funding, Muhammad says, is the nature of NECN’s selection process. A selection committee, comprised of community members, nonprofit employees and others involved at the local level, scores the proposals for the NECN board. “I think the ultimate goal is that whatever proposals are awarded, that ultimately their vision or their project matches NECN’s goals and values that we represent,” Muhammad says.

Despite slight differences in methodology, the same can be said for all of the city’s neighborhood coalitions when it comes to offering small grants money. At the heart of the matter is supporting efforts that help Portland’s neighborhoods thrive from the bottom up. “It’s about building things that get people engaged in their community,” says Leistner, “and get people experience working on projects and working together.”

Resources (updated 8/30, 8:24 a.m.)

Portland’s seven district neighborhood coalitions will give out approximately $189,000 in grants to support neighborhood and community projects in 2012. Each neighborhood coalition is offering an information session for people who want to apply for a grant.

While the overall goals of the program are the same citywide, each neighborhood coalition has its own additional guidelines and selection process. Be sure to attend the information session for the district in which you want to do your project.

Neighborhood Small Grants Program Information Sessions

Central Northeast Neighbors (CNN)
Mon. Sept. 19, 2011, 6-7:30 p.m.
4415 NE 87th Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97220
Contact: Sandra Lefrancois, 503.823.2780, sandral@cnncoalition.org
Grant Funds Available: $16,895

East Portland Neighborhood Office (EPNO)
Mon. Sept. 26, 2011, 6-8 p.m.
1017 NE 117th Ave. (between Halsey & Glisan)
TRIMET: #77, #25 (stops at 7 p.m.)
Contact: David Ashton, 503.823.4550, david@epno.org
Grant Funds Available: $30,000

Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN)
Wed. Sept. 21, 2011, 6-8 p.m.
4815 NE 7th
Portland, OR 97211
Contact: Imani Muhammad, 503.823.4264, imani@necoalition.org, or Katy Asher, 503.823.4135, katy@necoalition.org
Grant Funds Available: $23,794.38

North Portland Neighborhood Services (NPNS)
Tues, Sept. 27, 2011, 7-8:30 p.m.
Historic Kenton Firehouse
8105 N. Brandon
Portland, OR 97217
Contact: Mary Jaron Kelley, 503.823.4099, mary@npnscommunity.org, or Arolia McSwain, 503.823.0209
Grant Funds Available: $25,000

Neighbors West/Northwest (NWNW)
Thurs. Sept. 22, 2011, 6-8:30 p.m.
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital,
North and South Conference Room
1040 NW 22nd Ave.
Portland, OR 97210-3025
TRIMET: #15 & 77, The Portland Streetcar
Contact: Angela Southwick, 503.823.4211, angela@nwnw.org
Grant Funds Available: to be announced

Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition (SE Uplift)
Thurs. Sept 29, 2011, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
SE Uplift, 3534 SE Main
Portland, OR 97214
Contact: Kristen Hagstrom, 503.232.0010, x319, kristen@southeastuplift.org
Grant Funds Available: $46,058

Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. (SWNI)
Wed. Sept. 21, 2011, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Multnomah Center
7688 SW Capitol Hwy.
TRIMET: #44 Capitol Hwy. bus
Contact: Payal Razdan, 503.823.4592, payal@swni.org
Grant Funds Available: $22,956

Correction 8/30/11: The article initially stated that the City will offer nearly $224,000 in neighborhood small grants. The correct amount is $189,600. The (nearly) $224,000 amount is the total funding for the program and includes the cost for the neighborhood coalition offices to administer the program.