At Oregon Community Foundation’s Annual Meeting, we reflected on what it means to think big — and what it takes to carry big ideas forward together.
Over the past year, OCF and our donors deployed more than $200 million in grants and scholarships to support Oregon communities, nonprofits and students across the state. But we also know the challenges facing Oregon require more than generosity alone. They require partnership, creativity and bold action.
Throughout Oregon, people are already carrying big ideas about food, arts and culture, immigrant and refugee support, economic vitality and community resilience. The question is whether we are willing to carry those ideas together.
That's the spirit behind the announcement of the Building Hope Fund — a new effort to help finance housing for middle-income Oregonians. OCF is launching the fund with a $100 million investment and a goal of helping build 10,000 homes across Oregon.
It's a big idea. We need more partners. More hands, to carry it together.
That’s how we build hope for Oregon.
Photos: @jasonhill.photo
Big ideas rarely begin in a spotlight. They begin when someone sees what’s broken and imagines something better.
Today, Oregon Community Foundation announced the Building Hope Fund — a new effort to help finance housing for middle-income Oregonians.
Too many people who keep Oregon running can no longer afford to live in the communities they serve. Nurses. Teachers. Restaurant workers. Construction workers. Small business owners.
The Building Hope Fund will provide lower-interest loans to developers ready to build housing but unable to secure reasonable financing. OCF is launching the effort with a $100 million investment.
Our goal: help build 10,000 homes across Oregon.
Because housing is more than a roof. It’s dignity. Stability. Opportunity. A future.
We believe bold action matters. But we also believe big challenges are too heavy to carry alone.
Think big, Oregon.
And hold hands.
That’s how we build hope.
A remarkable act of generosity will shape Oregon communities for generations. Joseph E. Weston just made the largest gift in Oregon Community Foundation’s history to the OCF Joseph E. Weston Public Foundation, bringing its endowment to more than $1 billion.
Weston grew up in Southeast Portland with limited means but a strong work ethic. Over decades, he built a real estate portfolio and a legacy of giving. Since 1991, his foundation has awarded more than $250 million in grants and scholarships.
This gift ensures that support will continue far into the future, helping children, working families, seniors and those experiencing homelessness across Oregon.
“I know what it was like to be excluded...” Weston has said. “That is why the goal of the Foundation is to provide funding to support nonprofits who are helping those in need."
Nonprofits across Oregon are stepping up—and together, they’re creating real change.
This spring, 258 organizations received nearly $5.2 million in grants to support everything from housing stability and youth mentorship to wildfire response and survivor services.
These are just a few of the stories behind the impact.
@henderson_housedvsa@furnishhope@rvmentoring
They serve pancakes at dawn and guide wiggly kids through story time and backyard play, but child care providers do far more than watch our children.
They run small businesses.
They support working parents.
They power local economies.
Brenda Barajas opened Happy Tots Childcare in Tillamook after more than a decade working in early learning. Today, her home-based business helps parents get to work while giving children safe, loving care during their most important years.
Yet Oregon faces a massive child care shortage. Only a fraction of young children have access to care, and the gap costs the state $1.4 billion each year in lost earnings for families, lost productivity and growth for businesses and lost revenue.
Child care is a valuable career. It’s economic infrastructure. And it deserves real support.
Story: Shelby Oppel Wood @swoodpdx_
Photos: @jasonhill.photo@nhpdx
Fresh pasta. Real skills. A community fed.
In Medford, teens at Kids Unlimited (@kidsunlimited98 ) are hand-rolling pasta, selling out at the farmers market and preparing to open a student-run shop — all in a neighborhood with limited access to healthy food.
Oregon Community Foundation helped make it possible. Because philanthropy isn’t just writing checks — it’s helping ideas like this one find their footing.
Link in bio to read the full story.
#OregonCommunityFoundation #SouthernOregon #KidsUnlimited #Pastabilities #CommunityImpact #FoodJustice #YouthEmpowerment #Oregon
🏀 Now accepting applications: Trail Blazers Foundation Fund
The Trail Blazers Foundation Fund at Oregon Community Foundation is funding programs that support youth across Oregon and Southwest Washington.
Grants of up to $25K are available, with the potential for two years of funding (up to $50K total).
Apply by 5:00 p.m. on April 3
🔗 Learn more at the link in bio or visit oregoncf.org
Oregon’s arts and culture shine because of the organizations bringing creativity to their communities every day.
We’re proud to support 277 partners statewide with $7M in Arts & Culture Rebuilding Fund grants. Funds will uplift young filmmakers in Warm Springs, expand arts access in rural regions and strengthen anchor cultural institutions across Oregon.
On March 20, 2024, Oregon Community Foundation joined with partners in philanthropy and state government to make a major investment in arts and culture. Oregon Community Foundation, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation (@millerfound ) and the state of Oregon pledged a combined $52 million to support Oregon’s arts and culture sector over three years. The three-year commitment is rooted in the understanding that arts and culture are essential for Oregon’s civic and economic infrastructure.
Photos: 1 and 2: Portland Opera; 3 and 4: Warm Springs Community Action Team; 5 and 6: Portland Art Museum; 7 and 8: Bay City Arts Center; 9 and 10: Frontier Art Center, a program of the Community Support Foundation of Harney County
Community is not an accident. It’s built with care, courage and organizing.
This Black History Month, we’re honoring leaders in the Black Student Success Network. Meet Desiree Williams-Rajee, whose work with the Beaverton Black People's Union (@beavertonblackpeoplesunion ) is weaving connection across Washington County.
From education policy to rites of passage, from BSU leadership to Black-to-School BBQs and Kwanzaa gatherings, Desiree is helping families find each other and helping students see who they can become.
We’re proud that Oregon Community Foundation supports this work through the Black Student Success Program. Because when young people feel rooted in community, they can rise.
Exciting news to share! 🌟 Reflecting Oregon Community Foundation's commitment to rural communities, we're hiring for two positions in our Baker City office, an Associate Philanthropic Advisor and a Program Officer. If you are a mission-driven person, who wants to bring together individuals doing amazing work in the community, visit oregoncf.org/careers to learn more about these two opportunities
#JobOpportunity #MissionDrivenTeam #NonProfit #OregonCommunityFoundation #Hiring #EasternOregon #BakerCity
Forty one years of marriage began with a song and a dance.
Les doesn’t remember the song — but he'll never forget his wife, Becky.
Becky Engle danced her whole life. Ballet. Tap. Jazz. Swing. With The Sawdust Theatre and well into her 70s at the Pacific School of Dance at the Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon.
When she passed away in 2023, 260 people gathered after her service and pushed back the tables to dance.
How do you remember a woman like that?
Les created the Becky Engle Memorial Dance Scholarship Fund at Oregon Community Foundation — and made it permanent. It will fund scholarships for lessons at the Pacific School of Dance.
So the dancing never stops. 💃
@sawmilltheater@bgcofsworegon
Donell Morgan has built his career around the belief that connection and consistency change outcomes for kids.
As Executive Director of Elevate Oregon, Donell leads a mentorship model in East Portland and Vancouver schools that pairs Black students with full-time teacher-mentors — starting in third grade and staying for years. Elevate mentors see students daily and stay in close contact with teachers and school leaders.
"The kids are staying on track to be positive adults," Donell says.
Through the Black Student Success Network, Oregon Community Foundation is proud to partner with @elevateyouthnow .
