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CareOregon awarded $302,450 in community giving grants to 21 nonprofit organizations across the Portland metropolitan region that fill critical gaps in social services, including supporting organizations that help strengthen and grow social health programming in priority areas such as housing, food access, among other social health supports. 

“An important part of partnering with our community is looking at what the need is and working together to meet it,” said Shawn DeCarlo, CareOregon director of community benefit. “Our community partners are a big part of providing health care that meets the needs of those we serve, and we’re proud to support these incredible organizations that make that happen.” 

Among the grants awarded, CareOregon is investing $12,650 in Project Homeless Connect Washington County, a nonprofit organization that provides community connections to shelter, critical resources, services and housing, to help fund the training and certification of up to 17 Peer Support Specialists and Certified Recovery Mentors who have lived experience with mental health services and addiction recovery. 

"Due to the current undersupply of mental health and addiction treatment services catered to the homeless population, these certifications will not only enhance the quality of care we provide but also help fill the gap that exists between the need and availability of behavioral health services for the population we serve," said Katherine Gaines, Development Director at Project Homeless Connect Washington County.

CareOregon is also investing $35,000 in Doulas Latinas to support the training and certification of 25 new Doulas and 15-20 additional community health workers, all of whom will serve low-income Latino-Indigenous and immigrant pregnant mothers, babies, families and farm workers in Oregon. These doulas will join and serve low income/OHP Latino pregnant mothers and are expected to support about 90 pregnant mothers in total.

Grant recipients include: 

Housing

Home Plate Youth Services ($40,000) - Funds will help support drop-in center program that provide stabilizing resources such as access to counseling, mental health services, employment, education and housing for youth experiencing homelessness.

Resolutions NW ($15,000) - Funding will support programming and teams that provide services to Black, Indigenous, and people of color that aid in conflict resolution through community and tenant-landlord mediation, as well as provide training, consultation, and conversations on restorative justice work.

Project Homeless Connect Washington County ($12,650) - Funding will go toward certifying staff members to become Peer Support Specialists and Certified Recovery Mentors to support and increase in-house services for those experiencing houselessness.

Food Access

De Rose Community Bridge and Holistic Wellness ($10,000) - Funding will support relocation costs, as well as materials and equipment for a new African kitchen that helps train immigrant and Refugee women on healthy cooking.

Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon ($10,000) - Funds will help support SNAP outreach programming, providing SNAP information, training and administrative advocacy to people who are struggling with food access.

*Portland Fruit Tree Project ($10,000) - The grant will help fund general operating costs to support fruit tree planting, fruit tree care, workforce training and fruit tree harvesting programming in order to increase community access to fruit in underserved areas.

Other Social Supports

Doulas Latinas ($35,000) - Funding will support the training and certification of 25 new Doulas and 15-20 additional community health workers, all of whom will serve low-income Latino-Indigenous and immigrants pregnant mothers, babies, families and farm workers in Oregon.

Orchid Health ($30,000) - Grand funding will support the launch of the Health Creation Network in Estacada, a platform that invites conversations and participation from local partners and community members on innovative ways to support a healthy community.

Reach Out and Read Oregon ($20,000) - Funds will help support 11 clinics in Portland Metro Area and Jackson County who will serve approximately 1,700 families and give them about 3,400 new books to keep. Reach Out and Read trained physicians walk into exam rooms with a book in hand, picked especially for that family that is appropriate developmentally and culturally for the child to keep. These clinics serve a very high percentage of families that are Medicaid members, an estimated 1,500 families.

PDX Saints Love ($20,000) - Grant funding will support operational costs for direct outreach at community wellness fairs, as well as support costs for workforce development, food costs and hygiene/wound care supplies for those experiencing houselessness, housing insecurity and barriers to food access and basic resources.

Kenyan Community of Oregon ($12,000) - Funding will support general programming such as after school youth activities, food access, housing, utility support and community activities.

African Family Holistic Health Organization ($10,000) - Funding will support culturally specific parenting classes to promote healthy child development and positive family relationships.

ARISE and Shine ($10,000) - Funding will support general operations costs, social support services, workshops, nutrition and food access and more for African immigrant and refugee communities.

Ethiopian and Eritrean Cultural and Resource Center ($10,000) - The grant will support 6months of the EECRC Healthy Living Project, a community based social support system, education and outreach program to address barriers such a unemployment, income, language barriers, health illiteracy and more, that create health disparities and social isolation among Ethiopian and Eritrean community member.

Family Justice Center of Washington County ($10,000) - Funding will support the accreditation process to become an affiliated center with the Alliance for Hope, and eventually provide a full-service family trauma center—the first of its kind in the Northwest-- that serves individuals and families impacted by family violence.

LoveOne ($10,000) - The grant will support LoveOne event operational costs, laundry services, necessary hygiene supplies (including feminine hygiene), shampoos specific for diverse hair types and culturally specific meal ingredients tailored to underserved populations who have trouble accessing resources specific to their cultural needs.

The Pathfinder Network ($10,000) - The grant funding will support the Center for Family Success program that provides wrap-around support services and resources to formerly incarcerated people and their families who have been released to Multnomah County.

Hygiene4All ($9,800) - Funding will cover general staffing, training and site management expenses that serves the houseless population and ensures consistent access to showers, dry socks, underwear, foot and wound care and a respite space at the outdoor hygiene hub located underneath the Morrison Bridge.

Pacific University ($8,000) - The funds will support general operating costs for SYNAPSE: Healthcare Career Explorations, a camp for 30 first-generation college, ethnically diverse, urban underrepresented high school students from June 19 to 22, on Pacific's Hillsboro Campus.

Kids N Tennis ($5,000) - Funds from this grant will be used to support the following programs and events for kids and families: Winter Break Day Camp at the Portland Tennis Center; National Tennis Month - USTA Play Day at the Portland Tennis Center; Irving Park Summer Tennis Camp; Juneteenth Health Fair and Tennis Jamboree at Irving Park.

POCA Tech ($5,000) - Funding will support the reaccreditation of POCA Tech, the only acupuncture school dedicated to training students to provide trauma informed acupuncture to underserved communities.  The POCA Tech student clinic provides approximately 6,000 low cost or free acupuncture treatments per year in the Rockwood neighborhood.