Spirit Mountain Community Fund distributes quarterly grants

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

Money from Spirit Mountain Community Fund’s third-quarter grants will help provide parents with clothing and supplies for foster children, care for children who have suffered trauma and abuse, a healing equestrian program for young men incarcerated at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, help restore wildlife habitat along the Tualatin River and much more.

Grant recipients gathered in the Tribal Governance Center  Wednesday, Sept. 2, to receive their awards and celebrate the occasion. Tribal Council member Kathleen George gave the invocation. Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George drummed and sang an honor song. Tribal Council member Matthew Haller also attended.

Haller also serves as a Community Fund Board of Trustees member and Kathleen George is the vice chair.

The fund distributed $483,830 through 21 grants; eight large grants, eight small grants and five $5,000 youth grantmaking grants. The distribution brings the total amount given out by the program to $104,507,314, spread among 3,533 grants.

Since grants have become more heavily sought after in the wake of federal cuts, Community Fund Program Coordinator Angela Schlappie told the assembled program representatives, the Community Fund was only able to fund 9% of the small grant applicants and 5% of the large grant applicants.

“As a result, many outstanding projects could not be funded due to limited available revenue and increasing demand,” Schlappie said. “The board selected you all to be funded. Congratulations on your achievement. … Your unwavering commitment makes a profound difference in the lives of many. We deeply appreciate your passion, resilience and the positive changes you foster each day.”

Schlappie also announced the name of the new grants coordinator, Miranda Rodriguez, hired to replace longtime former Grants Coordinator Jesse Knight, who retired at the end of August.

Amanda Garrison, program director for Forward Stride, an equestrian center that was one of the large grant recipients, told the audience that one of the several therapeutic programs the center offers is a six-week equine assisted learning program in partnership with Janus Youth Programs, held at MacLaren in Woodburn. It teaches the young men in the program horsemanship skills and eventually, how to ride the horses. The center offers a number of programs to the larger community, Garrison said, including physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, mental health therapy, a vaulting team and a riding program, all assisted by numerous volunteers. Garrison said the center also partners with other organizations, including the Native American Rehabilitation Association, Shriners Children’s and others.

The grant from the Community Fund will specifically fund the MacLaren youth program started in 2019, Garrison said.

“We take horses to MacLaren and are able to provide services to those young men… we usually go for eight weeks,” she said. “We take two horses and a few staff members, and we teach horsemanship skills, so they learn all the skills on the ground and then toward the end, they are also able to ride. They’re not only learning those horse skills, they’re also learning some social and life skills as well: Communication, teamwork, confidence and they’re able to build a relationship with their equine partners and the staff at Forward Stride.”

Garrison said she has participated in some of the MacLaren groups.

“It’s really rewarding to see the difference; you know when we first get there, some of the youth are pretty apprehensive or unwilling to participate, maybe even afraid of the horses and by the end, they’ve really come a long way,” she said. “They’ve created a bond with that horse and you can tell it’s a really important thing to them.”

Vennisa Gomez-Gerberg, executive director of With Love Oregon, one of the small grant recipients, told the group that her agency provides necessities for families caring for foster children from newborns to 6 years old. The program serves residents throughout Oregon and southwest Washington, and provides clothing, car seats, toys, cribs, shoes, books and more. Foster children often arrive on short notice, at all hours, with few belongings.

Gomez-Gerberg said she was in foster care as a small child and later adopted. As an adult, she became a foster mother to her young nieces in 2008.

With Love Oregon had not yet opened its doors at the time, she said, and she vividly remembers the panic of scrambling to prepare.

“When I got the call, I had actually just gotten laid off from the mortgage industry and so we were kind of in a bit of chaotic season, where we didn’t know what our finances were going to look like,” she said. “We had three children already and now we just woke up to two more children and I’ve got three children under the age of 3. I have to get my house ready, I have to make sure they have the clothing, the bedrooms and all that situated, within two weeks, because I’m also going through getting certified (as a foster parent).”

Today, Gomez-Gerberg said, foster parents can apply for help online from With Love and a volunteer will gather the donated items for them to pick up.

“We try to make it as easy as possible,” she said. “When you’re coming into foster care, especially as a little one, you don’t have a lot of time to pack your favorite stuffie and to get the clothes that fit. … We know that children are coming into foster care at all hours of the night, all hours of the day, and we want to make sure that they have what they need to be successful, to thrive and to be safe.”

The Community Fund drew names for beaded necklaces and a Tribal blanket to be given to the assembled representatives. Beaded necklaces were given to representatives from The Bridge Learning Community, Forward Stride, Todos Juntos Inc. and ABC House Inc.

A Tri-logoed blanket was given to the representative for Playworks Education Energized.

 The following grants were awarded:

Large grants

• ABC House Inc. in Linn County, $50,000, for vital care for children impacted by trauma and abuse;
• Columbia Land Trust in Washington County, $40,000, for restoring habitat along the Tualatin River at Rainbow Natural Area;
• Forward Stride in Marion County, $11,130, for Pathway to Resilience, growth and healing for incarcerated youth through its equestrian program;
• Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency Inc. in Polk County, $50,000, for building career pathways for rural youth at Carson Commons and beyond;
• Oregon State University Foundation in Benton County, $50,000, for New Beginnings for Tribal Students;
• Sheridan AllPrep Academy in Yamhill County; $50,000, for Rooted Together – building a sustainable early learning system;
• Todos Juntos Inc. in Clackamas County, $50,000, for academic supports for rural economically-disadavantaged youth;
• Willamina School District in Yamhill County, $100,000, for land to table; Bulldog culinary and hospitality lab.

Small grants

• Boxes of Love Project Inc. in Multnomah County, $7,500, for Stability From The Start; support for Native and rural foster children;
• Camp Starlight Commission in Clackamas County, $7,000, for Camp Starlight 2026;
• Kindred Partners in Washington County, $7,500, for Safe Families for Children community-based stabilization program;
• Lane Arts Council in Lane County, $7,500, for Pathways in Design, launching youth into creative careers;
• p:ear Programs Education, Art, Recreation in Multnomah County, $7,500, for empowering homeless youth to lead healthier lives;
• Playworks Education Energized in Yamhill County, $7,200, for reducing conflict and increasing academic readiness at Willamina Elementary School;
• The Bridge Learning Community in Yamhill County, $6,000, for Makerspace and No School Day STEM classes;
• With Love Oregon in Multnomah County, $7,500, for strengthening community for children impacted by foster care.