Oregon Community Foundation

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Oregon Community Foundation

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OCF puts donated money to work in Oregon.
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Since 1973, OCF grantmaking, research, advocacy and community-advised solutions have helped individuals, families, businesses and organizations create charitable funds to improve lives for all Oregonians.

10/12/2026

For Luna Howard, college once felt like a dream she couldn’t quite reach. After experiencing homelessness as a child, she wasn’t sure higher education was possible.

Scholarships helped change that. Now studying biology at the University of Oregon, Luna has a message for the South Coast donors who made her next chapter possible:

“You are literally changing their future. You changed my future.”

South Coast student Kacen Wardel knows that feeling of possibility, too. Now a sophomore at Oregon State University, he says scholarships have eased the financial burden of college and helped him pursue his dream of becoming a surgeon.

Their stories show what donor generosity can mean for students — and their families.

In 2026, Oregon Community Foundation awarded more than 3,500 scholarships totaling more than $14.5 million. Sixty-seven percent went to first-generation college students.

OCF manages one of the largest scholarship programs of its kind in the country, connecting students with opportunities to pursue their education and build their futures.

10/08/2026

A few years ago, Nora and Oscar Villasenor were building Al Xile one conversation at a time, selling their chili crisp at local farmers markets. With support from the nonprofit Built Oregon, they tested their product, connected with grocery buyers and refined their strategy. Today, Al Xile is sold in about 60 locations.

Their story is one example of what can happen when Oregon entrepreneurs have access to the right support at the right time.

In 2026, Oregon Community Foundation awarded $905,000 in Thriving Entrepreneurs grants to 39 organizations across the state. These nonprofits help entrepreneurs build skills, strengthen operations, access capital and make connections that can help their businesses grow.

“The success of Oregon's entrepreneurs strengthens entire communities,” said Jocelyn Beh, Economic Vitality and Housing Program Officer at Oregon Community Foundation.

For more than a decade, OCF has supported organizations working alongside entrepreneurs across Oregon because strong businesses can create jobs, generate economic activity and build lasting opportunity.

Read more at the link in comments.

09/30/2026

In a county of 1,500, everyone knows how to pitch in.

When wildfires threatened Wheeler County this summer, women opened their pantries to make meals for firefighters. Kids and older residents helped wherever they could. Volunteers brought their own vehicles and equipment to the fight.

And then there were needs the community couldn’t meet on its own:

Radios, masks and other vital equipment for firefighters.

This wildfire season, more than $1.3 million from Oregon Community Foundation and our donors went out into Oregon communities, along with nearly $1 million from other grantmakers through the Oregon Disaster Funders Network. The funds moved quickly to people on the ground who knew what was needed.

The reaction from Wheeler County residents?

Somebody cares about us.

We heard this story from Joni Kabana, founder of an arts center at the Spray General Store, during our donor briefing, "Oregon Together: What Comes Next After the 2026 Wildfires." Joni was joined by local and state leaders working across Oregon on disaster response and resilience.

As this season ends, fires continue to burn and communities continue to learn about prevention and pulling together. Watch the briefing at the link in comments. Thank you to the Oregon State Fire Marshal, Talent Maker City, OSU Extension, Oregon Disaster Funders Network and The General Store - Spray, Oregon and our foundation partners for bringing the message to our generous donors.
Photos: Joni Kabana

09/18/2026

Every day, child care providers help make it possible for parents to go to work.

For many Oregon families, their provider is a home-based small business.

These providers care for children, support working parents and play an essential role in the communities they serve. But their work — and the role it plays in Oregon’s broader workforce — can be easy to overlook.

In Oregon, nearly 30% of child care slots are provided by home-based caregivers. We need more of them.

Meet one Oregon provider and hear what she wants people to understand about the work she does and the important role home-based providers play in Oregon’s child care system.

Watch the full story by Jason Hill Photography at the link in the comments.

09/16/2026

"If you have one less person, that creates a lot more work." That's how a Roseburg logging company describes the ripple effect when an employee can't find child care.

Across Oregon, the child care shortage is squeezing families AND the businesses and hospitals that depend on them. Communities across Oregon have become child care deserts for infants and toddlers.

The good news: rural communities are stepping up. Home-based child care businesses are emerging as a practical solution where full centers can't survive — and support from workforce boards, local coalitions and funders is helping them grow.

Photo:
Spirit Sprouts, a home-based child care business in Roseburg.

09/12/2026

What if a rent assistance program could help residents improve their credit scores?

That was the unexpected discovery of an innovative partnership among Hacienda CDC, REACH and Northwest Housing Alternatives. What started as a program to help people afford housing also helped many improve their credit scores and increase their housing options.

Oregon Community Foundation supported the collaboration, and we're proud to see its impact continue.

Join us at the 2026 Housing Oregon Conference, where OCF Program Officer for Economic Vitality and Housing Jocelyn Beh will lead a panel discussion about the program on Sept. 28-29.

Housing Oregon's annual conference brings together affordable housing professionals from across Oregon and beyond to share ideas, build connections and advance solutions for working families, seniors, people with disabilities and other vulnerable communities.

Learn more and register by Sept. 15: housingoregon.org/conference

09/04/2026

"TRUE GAME CHANGER."

That's how Oregon Children's Theatre's Producing Artistic Director Jenn Hartmann Luck described the support they received from Oregon Community Foundation, talking about the organization's comeback this week. After pausing public programming in 2025 to strengthen its operations and rebuild its mission, OCT returns in 2027 with two new productions, expanded education programs and a three-year plan for growth.

Luck said our support was more than funding. It was an endorsement of OCT's vision and its future, and that endorsement played a crucial role in the organization's comeback.

Believing in arts organizations like OCT is believing in the communities we share. That belief is only possible because of the donors who work with OCF to show up for organizations like OCT when they need it most.

Read about OCT's reimagined mission and what's ahead: https://www.octc.org/oct-reimagined

Photos by North Light Photo.

09/03/2026

When wildfire smoke settled over Warm Springs and other Central Oregon communities this summer, OSU Extension Service staff had a simple, low-cost solution ready to go: a box fan and a furnace filter, taped together, can clean the air in a room.

It sounds almost too simple to matter. But as 2026 shaped up to become one of Oregon's worst wildfire seasons on record, hundreds of these DIY air filters, along with thousands of N95 masks, have reached families dealing with hazardous air quality, including people managing asthma and other breathing conditions who had been stuck indoors for days.

What made the fast turnaround possible was funding that was already available when the need showed up. Support from Oregon Community Foundation's Disaster Readiness and Response Fund, together with the Oregon Disaster Funders Network and the OSU Extension Director's Fund for Excellence in Extension, meant Extension staff could buy supplies and get them into communities within days, not weeks.

To everyone who has given to the Disaster Readiness and Response Fund: this is what your support makes possible. Big impact does not always come with a big price tag.

Thank you to OSU Extension Service for sharing this story and these photos, and to our partners across the Oregon Disaster Funders Network.

Photos:
1. Briana Stacona of Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon assembles a box fan with filter. Photo by Ariel Cowan
2. Deschutes County box fan filter assembly party. Photo by Ariel Cowan.
3. Rows of completed box fan air filters ready for the public at the OSU Extension office in Prineville. Photo by Shawna Holland

08/25/2026

What if we gave artists the resources to take big creative risks?

This year’s Creative Heights grants support 12 projects exploring ideas that invite us to see Oregon — and one another — in new ways.

- Fifteen artists making baskets and woven works for the East Oregonian Gallery at the Pendleton Center for the arts

- An Iraqi-American filmmaker bringing veterans together over home-cooked Iraqi meals

- A new bilingual play inspired by Southern Oregon wildfire stories

- An Afro-Fantasy film created with Portland students and Black community members

- And much more

Since 2014, Oregon Community Foundation’s Creative Heights initiative has invested roughly $1 million a year in bold arts and culture projects, supporting 165 projects across Oregon.

We’re excited to see where these artists take us next. 🎨

Photo: Sahar al-Sawaf, "One Bite for the Godless"

Explore all 12 Creative Heights grantees at the link in comments.

08/13/2026

Oregon Community Foundation's new regional office in Baker City is operational!

"We opened an office in Baker City because we wanted to be here in Eastern Oregon to serve rural communities," said Kenny Parsons, philanthropic advisor and regional director for Central and Eastern Oregon. "The community has welcomed us with open arms."

OCF staff connected with the community recently at the annual Miners Jubilee at Geiser Pullman Park and marking the opening of our new regional office on Main Street.

Program Officer Steve Genovese is now in place, meeting with local leaders and nonprofits to learn about the challenges and opportunities facing the region.

OCF serves all of Oregon, and we're still looking to fill a Philanthropic Advisor role in the area. Learn more and apply on our careers page: oregoncf.org/careers

Address

1221 SW Yamhill Street, Ste 100
Portland, OR
97205

Telephone

+15032276846

Website

http://www.oregoncf.org/

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