Meyer Memorial Trust makes C. Oregon grants

Meyer Memorial Trust awarded 109 grants in June, totaling nearly $4.3 million for organizations across Oregon and Southwest Washington, including several groups and agencies on the High Desert.

Some of the awards stand out. One grant, for $14,520, falls under the Willamette River Initiative and supports mainstem Willamette restoration work. Another grant of $5,000 supports a statewide expansion of a training series aimed at helping public housing authorities and landlords implement Housing Choice Voucher Program reforms, a key focus of MMT’s Affordable Housing Initiative.

And grants totaling nearly $2.2 million comprise the last of Meyer’s Grassroots Grants, aimed at smaller organizations in need of funding for organizational technical assistance, technology projects, leadership development, hiring advisers and consultants, facility construction and repairs, outreach and communication, and operating support.

Since 2007, the Grassroots Grants program has opened Meyer to nonprofits in every county and corner of Oregon, more than 960 grants in all, totaling nearly $20 million.

“The relationships we’ve built through the Grassroots Grants program have helped shape the Trust and the projects it has supported have improved the lives of our neighbors in so many ways,” said Doug Stamm, MMT’s chief executive officer. “As Meyer refines how we do what we do, we will be relying on our nonprofit partners to help shape what our grantmaking will look like when we launch our new grant programs later this year.”

Hundreds of affordable housing experts across the nonprofit landscape have taken part in a survey to help define our Safe + Stable Housing portfolio. A second survey, aimed at determining the parameters of our Resilient Social Sector portfolio, was announced last week. To date, more than 400 nonprofit leaders have taken part.

Meyer Memorial Trust, established in 1982, is one of the largest private foundations in Oregon, with current assets over $795 million. Over its lifetime, MMT has awarded 8,738 grants and PRIs, totaling nearly than $679 million, to 3,168 organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. In March, we ended our Responsive Grants and Grassroots Grants programs and began a working hiatus from some grantmaking to focus on reorganizing our grantmaking into four priority focus areas: affordable housing, education, the environment and supporting a resilient social sector

The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees, which includes Debbie Craig, John Emrick, Orcilia Ziga Forbes, George Puentes and Charles Wilhoite.

Crook
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St. Vincent de Paul Society of Crook County, Prineville
Awarded: $25,000
To support general operations at this agency that serves lowincome
and homeless individuals and families
in central Oregon.
Totals for Crook
Number
of awards since Meyer’s inception: 21
Total amount granted since inception: $610,809

Deschutes
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BendFilm , Bend
Awarded: $25,980
To support strategic planning and program staffing at this organization aimed at showcasing the craft of
independent cinema, nurturing the filmmaking students, and promoting arts and cultural tourism throughout
central Oregon.
Central Oregon Disability Support Network , Bend
Awarded: $40,000
To develop online training materials for the Adler’s Voice program, which provides alternative
communications devices to nonverbal children.
Central Oregon Veterans Ranch , Bend
Awarded: $30,886
To hire a project director to coordinate the startup
of a 20acre
ranch that will provide transitional care and
volunteer opportunities for disabled, aged, or terminally ill veterans in Bend.
La Pine Community Kitchen , La Pine
Awarded: $9,855
For technical assistance to support the development of an organizational strategic plan at this nonprofit
serving the neediest residents of Southern Deschutes County.
Saving Grace: Imagine Life Without Violence , Bend
Awarded: $21,364
To remodel new office space at this Bendbased
agency that provides family violence and sexual assault
services.
Sisters Schools Foundation, Sisters
Awarded: $22,500
To expand a program that provides fresh produce and gardenbased
nutrition education to lowincome
families and students.
Totals for Deschutes
Number
of awards: 6
Total amount granted in June: $150,585
Number of awards since Meyer’s inception: 247
Total amount granted since inception: $16,037,600
Number of PRIs: 3

Jefferson
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Museum At Warm Springs , Warm Springs
Awarded: $40,000
To support a mechanical system upgrade for this important agency that preserves, advances and shares the
knowledge, culture, traditions and artistic heritage of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Totals for Jefferson
Number
of awards since Meyer’s inception: 31
Total amount granted since inception: $1,993,497
Number of PRIs: 1
Total PRI Amount granted: $300,000
Total combined grants and PRIs since inception: $2,293,497