Oregon Community Foundation

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Oregon Community Foundation

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.

06/17/2026

What if the key to stronger rural economies is a shift in how we see people? And how they see themselves.

This week, internationally acclaimed author and speaker Jon Alexander — whose book Citizens argues for treating people as active shapers of their communities, not passive consumers — traveled through Eastern Oregon visiting regenerative ranchers and other food producers before joining a gathering at OCF's Portland offices.

It included Cory Carman of Carman Ranch. Lee Lahr of Sustainable Northwest. Brenda Smith of the High Desert Partnership, who described how sharing “100 cups of coffee” with people across historically divided sectors helped spark real collective action.

They work in communities who care deeply for the land. Who are reimagining inherited practices. Who are building something new by working together.

Jon's message: "All of us are smarter than any one of us." Oregon Community Foundation helped bring these leaders together for a conversation that reminded us all why that's true.

06/12/2026

New grants are out through the Nike Community Impact Fund of Oregon Community Foundation!

Since 2010, OCF has partnered with Nike employees to award grants to local nonprofits and schools — giving kids more opportunities to get outside, get active and thrive. This year's grantees include organizations doing inspiring work to make sports and physical activity accessible to all youth in our region.

Here's what the work means on the ground, from Amy Johnston of :

"Todos Juntos is deeply grateful to Oregon Community Foundation and Nike for their investment in the potential of rural youth. Their support helps create opportunities that extend far beyond the school day, transforming critical after-school hours into meaningful experiences that inspire growth, connection, and achievement."

We're proud to be the vehicle for this kind of community-driven giving.

05/19/2026

This video shows the landscape and people of Oregon and urges viewers to come together to love it through change. Video: Jason Hill Photography

05/08/2026

Oregon's housing shortage is holding all of us back.

Too many Oregonians — nurses, restaurant workers, teachers, construction workers and small business owners — are struggling to find homes they can afford near the communities they serve.

Oregon Community Foundation can help. We’re willing to do what it takes to help our neighbors get into a home with a door and a floor and a future.

The Building Hope Fund will help finance the construction of new housing for middle-income Oregonians by providing lower-interest loans to developers ready to build but unable to secure reasonable financing.

We've seeded the Building Hope Fund with $100 million. And we’re inviting investors, donors, foundations and financial institutions to join us. Anyone can be part of the Building Hope Fund. To learn more: https://oregoncf.org/buildinghope

Together, we intend to help build 10,000 homes in Oregon.

We are balancing bold action with the collective wisdom that has guided this institution for more than 50 years. And we believe that if we do this right —right partners, right structure and rock-solid resolve — we will do more than build homes.

We will build a better Oregon.

Think big, Oregon.

And hold hands.

05/06/2026

A remarkable act of generosity will shape Oregon communities for generations.

Portland businessman and philanthropist Joseph E. Weston has donated the remainder of his commercial real estate holdings to the OCF Joseph E. Weston Public Foundation, bringing its endowment to more than $1 billion — the largest gift in the history of Oregon Community Foundation.

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 grew up poor. I know what it was like to be excluded because our family didn’t have resources,” Weston has said. “I’ve also been very fortunate in my profession, and that is why the goal of the Foundation is to provide funding to support nonprofits who are helping those in need. Working with OCF has allowed me to better realize that goal now and into the future.”

05/05/2026

Across Oregon, nonprofits are stepping up in big ways, and this spring, they’re getting a boost to go even further.

Through 258 grants totaling nearly $5.2 million, Oregon Community Foundation is supporting organizations in every corner of the state. Strengthening community well-being. Expanding economic opportunity. Building arts infrastructure. Helping families stay stable.

From a domestic violence services provider in Yamhill County…
To a Spanish-language community radio station in the Columbia River Gorge…
To an organization furnishing homes for families starting over in Central Oregon…

These investments reflect the power of local solutions.

Most of the funding — $4.77 million — comes through Community Grants, providing flexible support so nonprofits can meet rising demand, sustain staff, and keep essential programs running.

Here’s what that looks like in action:
✨ Supporting wildfire preparedness and a new volunteer fire district in the Row River Valley
✨ Expanding affordable preschool, summer camp and after-school programs on the North Coast
✨ Furnishing thousands of homes for people rebuilding their lives
✨ Providing culturally relevant services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence
✨ Connecting youth with caring mentors across Southern Oregon

“Oregon is full of people working hard to improve the lives of our neighbors across the state,” said Kim Koenig, Director of Community Programs for Oregon Community Foundation. “We’re grateful to our donors for sharing resources to support big ideas and smart solutions.”

04/15/2026

At 7 a.m. every weekday, Brenda Barajas opens her front door to Tillamook families. For the next ten hours, she feeds, teaches, comforts and cares for children during some of the most important years of their lives.

As the owner of Happy Tots Childcare, Brenda is also a small business owner helping Oregon’s economy function. Without providers like her, parents cannot work, employers cannot hire and communities cannot grow.

Right now, Oregon has child care slots for only about one third of children under age five. The gap costs the state $1.4 billion every year in lost wages, productivity, growth and revenue and forces many families to quit jobs or turn down opportunities.

Child care providers are business owners and essential workers who make every other workforce possible. Supporting them means supporting families, employers and our shared future.

Story: Shelby Oppel Wood

Photos: Jason Hill Photography

04/04/2026

Oregon Community Foundation joins so many others in celebrating a milestone for Indigenous cultural preservation in the Columbia River system.

Collector Fred Mitchell has signed his life's work over to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in a ceremony at the Nixyaawii Governance Center in Mission, Oregon. The Fred L. Mitchell & Family Collection — roughly 15,000 ancient stone and metal items, over 800 beaded bags and pouches, more than 1,250 historic photographs, beaded gauntlets, dresses, cradleboards and much more — will now be preserved and shared through the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute in Pendleton.

Tamástslikt Director and OCF Board Member Bobbie Conner reminded those gathered that when the museum opened in 1998, it had no collection at all. This transfer is the result of decades of Tribal determination and one man's profound act of generosity.

Fred Mitchell, born and raised in Walla Walla, began collecting at age 5. Conner described him as “a man of integrity.” After he signed the documents, tribal officials wrapped him in a blanket to honor him.

We are grateful to Bobbie Conner for her leadership, to Fred Mitchell for seven decades of careful stewardship and to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation for their commitment to preserving these stories for future generations.

The Museum at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute — a must-visit in Pendleton, Oregon.
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

Photo by Yasser Marte at Confederated Umatilla Journal

03/20/2026

In a former car dealership in Medford's Liberty Park neighborhood, something remarkable is happening.

Teens are rolling and cutting fresh pasta by hand — and in the process, learning to run a business, connect with local farms and feed their community.

The program is called Pastabilities, run by Kids Unlimited of Oregon. It grew out of a simple pandemic activity — making fresh pasta at home — and turned into something much bigger: a farmers market booth that sells out within hours, partnerships with local vineyards, and now plans for a drive-through restaurant operated by students.

Parent Mayra Duran describes what she sees in the students: "The feeling of belonging, the feeling of being seen, and the feeling of being celebrated."

Oregon Community Foundation is proud to have helped incubate this idea — because when young people in Southern Oregon are given real responsibility and real opportunity, they rise.

03/17/2026

📣 The Trail Blazers Foundation Fund at Oregon Community Foundation is now accepting applications.

Funding is available for three programs that support youth through:

🌱 LIVE Greener – Environmental education, preservation or jobs
🎓 LEARN – Helping youth succeed in school
🏃 PLAY – Keeping kids and families active

Organizations can apply for one category and receive up to $25,000, with the chance for a second year of funding (up to $50,000 total).

📍 Open to organizations serving Oregon and Southwest Washington
⏰ Apply by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 3

Please share with organizations making a difference for youth in our communities!

Address

1221 SW Yamhill Street, Ste 100
Portland, OR
97205

Telephone

+15032276846

Website

http://www.oregoncf.org/

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