Over $3 million in Foundation funding made up 44 grants to community nonprofits.
During the first quarter of 2018, we awarded 44 grants totaling more than $3 million. This funding supports organizations anchored in the culture of the people they serve and dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for under-resourced communities.
Below are some highlights from this quarter.
Verde: Building strong communities through its Energy and Anti-Displacement Initiative.
Based in Portland, OR, Verde is dedicated to serving communities by building environmental wealth through social enterprise, outreach, and advocacy. The organization works in the Cully Neighborhood of Portland, an under-resourced community faced with environmental challenges.
Verde will use a two-year, $200,000 grant to support its “Building a Cohesive Living Cully Energy and Anti-Displacement Initiative.” This initiative takes an innovative focus on environmental investments at the community level and connects those investments to community development, racial equity, and poverty-reduction efforts.
By empowering low-income renters and mobile home residents to repair their homes and get involved in local policies, Verde is preventing displacement and securing better futures for the people living in the Cully neighborhood.
Verde is also tapping into the potential of its community by implementing a community energy plan. The plan presents new opportunities for energy conservation and energy generation at a neighborhood level. Through investments in energy efficiency, the plan will build resilience and wealth in the community.
First Nations Oweesta Corporation expands economic opportunity for Native nations, receiving first of grants made possible from FHLB Des Moines collaboration.
You’ve heard a lot from us during the past several months about First Nations Oweesta Corporation, a Native community development financial institution (CDFI) intermediary. As part of our collaboration with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines (FHLB Des Moines), Oweesta received two $1 million grants this past quarter. Oweesta offers financial products and development services exclusively to Native CDFIs and Native communities. The grants support Oweesta’s groundbreaking work to help local Native CDFIs grow jobs and support entrepreneurship in Indian Country (read the five-part blog series on Native CDFIs for more info).
