PORTLAND, Ore.—Lack of access to health care and other needed resources often keep people in an unending cycle of poverty, homelessness, hunger and fear. To help break this cycle, CareOregon is providing $1 million in Community Benefit Grants this year—most recently awarding $371,000 in grants to 13 Oregon nonprofits.
One of these grants is for $60,000 to Helping Hands. The funds will be used for its re-entry program, which helps people experiencing homelessness create a framework for a sustainable life.
CareOregon is the parent company of Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organization, an Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid) CCO that brings physical, behavioral and dental health care together to make it easier for members to get the care they need. The recipients of the grants are all nonprofits with missions that align with CareOregon’s vision of healthy communities for all individuals, regardless of income or social circumstances.
Clatsop and Tillamook counties will also benefit from a $46,000 grant to 211info, which will hire a part-time community engagement coordinator in Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook counties. 211info provides referrals to social services to people across the state of Oregon, but it is still not well-known in northwest Oregon coastal counties. This grant will help extend awareness and improve information about services in these counties.
Additional grants were given to:
- CASA for Children in Columbia County, $10,000. The grant will help CASA meet the rapid growth of its program. Funds will support a new outreach program for volunteers and establish a new data and administrative system to accelerate recruitment and training.
- The Center for Intercultural Organizing in Washington County, $37,000. The grant will go to expanding its Margins to Mainstream project, which supports recent immigrants and refugees suffering from psychosocial trauma.
- City Team in the Portland metro area, $20,000. This grant will help purchase commercial-quality appliances for the agency. The appliances will help City Team provide clothing, shelter and food to men and women who are homeless.
- Children’s Dental Clinic of Jackson County, $10,000. This grant will help the Children’s Dental Clinic upgrade equipment, which is used to provide free dental care to youth from low-income Jackson County families.
- FolkTime located in Multnomah County, $46,000. This grant will help FolkTime with its social program, which provides peer-support activities to people living with mental illnesses.
- Growing Gardens in Multnomah County, $25,000. This grant will help “grow” the Growing Gardens program, which helps educate community members about the importance of fresh fruit and vegetables in fighting hunger and improving nutrition.
- New City Initiative in Multnomah County, $24,000. It will use this money to fund its network of support that helps those exiting homelessness find stability.
- p:ear in the Portland metro area, $10,000. This grant will go to p:ear’s Educational Kitchen Remodel Project, to provide more than 100 meals a day to youth who are homeless.
- Teaching Preschool Partners in the Portland metro area, $10,000. Its funds will help open and operate a preschool classroom in the Parkrose School District.
- Urban Gleaners in Multnomah County, $50,000. This grant will help fund of a new mobile market to make free, fresh food available in subsidized housing and two elementary schools.
- WinterSpring in Jackson County, $23,000. This grant will go to its Healthy Family Bereavement Program, which gives support to those who have experienced the loss of a loved one.
For information about CareOregon or the Community Benefits Grant Program please contact Jeanie Lunsford, 503-416-3626, [email protected].
