Murdock Trust grants $350,000 to new Redmond community for foster families, seniors

Bridge Meadows opened last fall; funds will go toward community building

(Update: Adding video and comments from trust representative)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust announced Friday it has granted $350,000 to help Oregon nonprofit Bridge Meadows build a new community in Redmond that will support children in foster care, foster families and supportive elders. Murdock is an open application process and anyone can send a letter of inquiry if it fits within Murdocks funding, focus, and guidelines. The next step would be to submit a full application.

“We love to see organizations like Bridge Meadows bring a unique, community-minded approach to serve an identified need,” said Steve Moore, executive director of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. “We could not be more excited to support their new project, which will help Bridge Meadows meet the growing needs of Central Oregon foster families.”

Pauline Fong, program director for the trust, told NewsChannel 21, "The residential part of that community is already done. But, what they asked for is the community center building ... where kind of all the community activities will be happening.

"So for example, they're going to have classes there," she said, "It's going to have a meeting and activity space for the resident, have a commercial kitchen, a community room, and art room. And then that way, the residents and neighbors can get together."

Here's the rest of the trust's announcement:

The grant to Bridge Meadows reflects the Murdock Trust’s continued investment in the Pacific Northwest. Since 2017, the Murdock Trust has contributed more than $102 million through 492 grants to nonprofits serving communities in Oregon and more than $1.2 billion in grants to the Pacific Northwest region overall since opening its doors in 1975.

Bridge Meadows began in 2005 in North Portland with an intergenerational housing community that offers affordable apartments to seniors, youth in foster care and their families. The homes include intentional, trauma-informed design by Carleton Hart Architecture and built by Walsh Construction. Bridge Meadows opened a second community in Beaverton in 2017.

The new community in Redmond opened last fall. It is part of Hayden Homes, a single-family development with a multifamily requirement. Bridge Meadows filled that requirement. It will house approximately 80 residents – 35 former foster youth, 10 parents and 35 elders – on about two acres. The apartments for elders are full, and the foster family homes are about 30% full so far, according to Executive Director Dr. Derenda Schubert.

The Murdock Trust award is specifically supporting construction of the community building, which is a gathering place with state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment, meeting rooms for exercise classes, art classes and more, a community kitchen, large windows and a patio.

“The Hayden Homes community has been very welcoming. They keep asking, ‘When are the kids going to be here? When are the families going to be here?’” Schubert said. “We’re grateful to the Murdock Trust’s support to create a place where people can truly build community across generations that creates security and stability for children who have experienced trauma.”

About M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust

The Murdock Trust, created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, provides grants to organizations in five states of the Pacific Northwest—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington—that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, spiritual and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways. Since its inception in 1975, the Trust has awarded more than 7,500 grants totaling more than $1.2 billion. For more information, find the Murdock Trust on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and on our website.

"Originally Jack Murdock loved to fly and he had a distributorship of those small planes. That was actually the distributing region. Jack left a very general directive that he wanted his money to really enrich the lives of individuals, families, and communities in the Northwest," Fong said. "But, he didn't really spell out what Northwest was, so the original trustees had to figure out what was Northwest. And, since that was kind of the distributing region- that's where he had the most interest of his activities. The trustees were trying to figure out what would Jack do and if he was still alive and directing the money."