Neighborhood Notes

Applications being accepted for Portland Neighborhood Small Grants through seven District Coalition offices

The City of Portland, Office of Neighborhood Involvement and seven District Coalitions announce the third year of the Neighborhood Small Grants Program with $187,557 available to neighborhood and community-based organizations. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis through the seven neighborhood District Coalitions.

Click here for more information on this year's grant program.
Click here for links to applications for each of the seven District Coalitions.
Click here for an informational flier you can print out and share with others.
If links are not working go to: www.portlandonline.com/oni and click on Neighborhood Small Grants Program.

Deadline for proposals

Proposals will be due no later than 2:00 PM, Monday, November 3, 2008 at the District Coalition you apply to. Do not send proposals to the Office of Neighborhood Involvement!

Goal of Neighborhood Small Grants Program

Our goal is to provide neighborhood and community organizations an opportunity build community, attract new and diverse members and sustain those already involved.

Selection Criteria and other Requirements

A minimum set of criteria for selection and other eligibility requirements have been established for grant making procedures through each of the seven District Coalitions. Click here for those criteria and other requirements.

Most importantly, project proposals must address one or more of the following guidelines in order to qualify for consideration:

• Projects that build capacity in Neighborhood Associations and communities within the designated District Coalition's area.

• Projects that build capacity in community-based organizations working with underrepresented populations within the designated District Coalition area.

• Projects that show partnerships between Neighborhood Associations and community-based organizations within the designated District Coalition area.

• Projects that show partnerships between Neighborhood Associations and under-represented organizations and communities within the designated District Coalition area.

First two years of grant program funds 179 project

In the first two years of the grant program $361,945 was awarded to 179 neighborhood and community organization projects. The average grant award was $2,022.81 neighborhood projects were funded along with 64 projects (36%) initiated by underrepresented organizations working with people of color, immigrants and refugees, low-income families, youth, people with disabilities and gay, bi, lesbian and transgendered communities. The remaining organizations represented environmental, crime prevention, business, arts and culture organizations and associations.

Grants administered by District Coalitions

Grants are being administered through the seven neighborhood District Coalitions funded by the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. Applicants will need to choose a neighborhood District Coalition to submit proposals to depending on whether the project benefits the residents residing within that coalition's geographical area. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis amongst proposals submitted within each specific District Coalition, not on a citywide basis. Each District Coalition will determine the minimum and maximum dollar range for which grant awards will be made for their geographic area. Each District Coalition will recruit their own grant-making committee made up of district coalition and/or neighborhood association, business community and under-represented community non-profit leaders. Administration costs of the coalitions has been held to $25,443 (12%) of the total $213,000 provided by the City for this grant program.

Here are links for the District Coalition applications:

Central Northeast Neighbors
East Portland Neighborhood Office
Neighbors West/Northwest
Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
North Portland Neighborhood Services
Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program
Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.


Contact info for your District Coalition grants program manager
Click here for contact information for each District Coalition, links to coalition maps and neighborhoods served by each coalition for the purposes of this grant program.

Central Northeast Neighbors
Sandra Lefrancois, Community Program Director, 503-823-2780, sandral@cnncoalition.org

East Portland Neighborhood Office
Richard Bixby, Director, 503-823-4550, richard@epno.org

Neighbors West/Northwest
Angela Southwick, Community Outreach Specialist, 503-823-4211, angela@nwnw.org

North Portland Neighborhood Services
Mary Jaron Kelley, Community Networking Specialist, 503-823-4099, mary@npnscommunity.org

Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods
Lauren McCartney, Neighborhood Association Outreach Coordinator, 503-823-4135, lauren@necoalition.org

Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program
Kristen Wiener, Neighborhood Leadership Program Manager, 503-232-0010 x 319, kristen@southeastuplift.org

Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
Ginny Stromer, Operations Manager, 503-823-4592, ginny@swni.org

Informational sessions offered
Organizations interested in submitting proposals are strongly encouraged to attend one of six info sessions to answer questions about the grant process, the application, what funds can be used for and unique priorities of each coalition area. The workshops will be held:

Wed., Sept. 24
6:00 - 8:00 PM, East Portland Neighborhood Office, 1017 NE 117th Ave., between NE Halsey and Glisan

Thurs., Sept. 25
6:30 - 8:00 PM, Central NE Neighbors, 4415 NE 87th Ave. off Sandy Blvd., behind fire station

Thurs., Sept. 25
6:30 - 8:30 PM, Oregon Zoo, Sunset Room, 4001 SW Canyon Rd.
For Neighbors West/Northwest and SW Neighborhoods, Inc.

Mon., Sept. 29
6:30 - 8:00 PM, Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, 4815 NE 7th Ave., use 7th Ave. entrance

Tues., Sept. 30
7:00 - 8:00 PM, North Portland Neighborhood Services, 8105 N. Brandon, at N. Schofield

Thurs., Sept. 30
6:30 - 8:00 PM, Southeast Uplift, 3534 SE Main, two blocks north of Hawthorne

Pre-registration is not required. Please call the appropriate District coalition grant manager for more information. Please call seven days in advance for special needs accommodations, language interpretation or child care. TTY 503-823-6868