Announcing PPF’s Spring 2022 Small Grants Recipients

PPF’s Small Grants Program recognizes organizations who are dedicated to increasing the accessibility of our urban parks and nature areas. The Portland Parks Foundation provides support to these organizations who embody our mission; here at PPF “we help people help parks.”

With our small grants, PPF focuses on the people and organizations working to fill gaps in access to parks, so everyone can benefit from the healing and transformative nature of parks. We intentionally prioritize organizations supporting low-income populations, communities of color, and other historically marginalized groups.

This spring, PPF was able to partner with 13 organizations awarding at total of $25,000.

A big thank you to Portland Parks & Recreation for helping to support PPF’s Small Grants Program this year.

Spring 2022 Small Grants Recipients:

• Black Parents Initiative (BPI)

• Friends of Gateway Green (FoGG)

• Impact Northwest and the SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods)

• Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC)

• Pacific North West Council of Water Protectors (PNWCWP)

• Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center + Rosemary Anderson High School (POIC + RAHS)

• Prose before Bros

• The Rose City Rollers

• The Bookmobile Babe

• Transformative Living Community, International (TLC, Int’l)

• Urban Nature Partners PDX (UNP PDX)

• Verde

• Atabey BIPOC Medicine

Read about each of the organizations and the work they are doing to help our parks!

Announcing the 2022 Joey Pope Award for Parks Leadership Nominees & 2022 Honoree

Joey Pope

Guided by her belief that parks and the outdoors are for everyone and an essential part of Oregon life, Josephine “Joey” Pope has devoted over four decades of her life to activism, philanthropy, and leadership in making Portland’s parks system more accessible to all.

In the spirit of Joey’s legacy, The Portland Parks Foundation, in partnership with the Pope family, has established an endowment fund to support emerging leaders advancing accessibility and innovation in Portland’s parks system.

This award includes a $10,000 grant plus wrap-around support from PPF to advance the goals of the recipient and their organization.

Nominations were made through an online form open to everyone and promoted through the Foundation’s email newsletter and social media accounts and direct outreach. They were accepted between March 1, 2022 through March 31, 2022.

The 2022 nominees are:

Chad Brown, Love is King

Gabe Sheoships, Friends of Tryon Creek

JoAnn Vrilakas and Dr. Derron Coles, Leach Botanical Gardens and The Blueprint Foundation

Pamela Slaughter, People of Color Outdoors

Pacific North West Council of Water Protectors

Prashant Kadad, Dance United

Rob Whitson, Troll City Boathouse

Urban Nature Partners PDX

Vanport Placemarking Project

Congratulations to Pamela Slaughter of People of Color Outdoors on receiving the 2022 Joey Pope Award for Parks Leadership!

Read about each of the nominees and the incredible work they are doing in our city!

Meet the 2022 Joey Pope Award for Parks Leadership Awardee

Pamela Slaughter, People of Color Outdoors

Pamela Slaughter founded People of Color Outdoors (POCO) where black, indigenous and all people of color can enjoy and learn about nature in a safe, welcoming, caring community. POCO blends networking, outdoors career options, environmental education, history, and outdoor skills—and, “of course, fun”—while bird watching, fishing, canoeing, bike riding, and overnight camping. Still working as a realtor and using little more than email and a Facebook page, she has rallied 3,000 constituents and partnerships with, among many others, Metro, Columbia Slough Watershed Council, Audubon Society, and the Nature Conservancy.

Over the years, Pamela has evolved POCO from simple meet-ups for people of color to a growing program of environmental and cultural education. Since inception, POCO has hosted over 200 outings ranging from hiking, birding, canoeing, snowshoeing, biking and camping. As POCO continues to grow, Pamela has added youth summer camps and training opportunities for POCO members to take specific skill training coursework in order to lead future POCO outings.

Support this work and learn more: www.pdxpocoutdoors.com

Announcing the 2022 U.S. Bank Parks Champions

The U.S. Bank Parks Champion Award recognizes individuals who provide outstanding volunteer service to a park, community center, natural area or community garden. The two winners each receive the opportunity to direct a $1,500 grant from PPF to a community organization that aligns with our vision: to help Portland communities create more equitable access to nature, play, health, and places of connection.

We had 37 outstanding nominations this year. Please read about each of them here. Get inspired, learn about new opportunities to volunteer and how to support organizations where they volunteer.

Some of the nomination highlights include:

• Service spanning decades to places like Leach Botanical Gardens,Forest Park, Mt. Tabor Park, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden,Lan Su Chinese Garden and Terwilliger Parkway.

• Placemaking projects in the Brentwood Darlington neighborhood.

• Organizing work parties to maintain parks and public spaces in places like Green Thumb Community Orchard, Leach Botanical Garden, Concordia Neighborhood Parks, Marquam Nature Park, and Wilshire Park.

• Maintaining garden plots, providing food to the community and building plots for people with mobility issues in gardens like Green Thumb Community Orchard, Johns Garden and Fulton Park CommunityGardens.

• Advocating for recreation and programming and creating a sense of belonging through soccer and biking.

• Providing safe and inclusive educational opportunities in nature forBIPOC community members.

• Cleaning up trash and graffiti and increasing safety in Laurelhurst Park.

• Managing countless volunteer groups and inspiring others to join new groups at places like Rose City Bluff and Elizabeth Caruthers Park.

• Providing workshops and resources on bees and native plants.

Here are your 2022 U.S. Bank Parks Champions

Christie Quinn

Christie founded the Bookmobile Babe in 2018, a volunteer-run nonprofit that distributes free books and a free literacy camp for ten weeks in the summer at both Lents Park and Columbia Park. Christie got the idea of starting Bookmobile Babe after volunteering with the Multnomah County Libraries and realizing they didn’t have a mobile way to bring books to the community. Bookmobile Babe distributes free books and offers book exchanges to children ages 1-18 from historically excluded communities. Christie partners with Portland Parks & Recreation, Reading is Resistance, The Children’s Book Bank and local authors to provide diverse literature and reading guides for youth. The Bookmobile Babe also leads discussions about the books on themes such as BLM, indigenous history, environmentalism and offers art activities too.

Laura Campos

Laura has been volunteering and serving SW Portland for decades, bring-ing the view and voice of Native Americans to parks and park activities throughout her civic engagement. A recent example of her volunteer efforts include the Eena (Beaver) Festival held at Multnomah Arts Center in 2021. She brought together SW Neighborhoods Equity & Inclusion Committee, Grand Ronde Tribal members, Westside Watersheds, Neighborhood House, and Multnomah Arts Center to support the event. Through this event the community was introduced to the concept and substance of imparting traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) to the humans occupying their territory. Over the decades she has continued to bring organizations together to better serve the community.

Read about each of the nominees and the amazing volunteer work they are doing in our city!

2022 U.S. Bank Parks Champion Nominees:

• Alicia Craft, Green Thumb Community Orchard

• Alison Hardinh, Lincoln Youth Soccer,

• Anton Vetterlein, Historic Terwilliger Parkway

• Bill Bannister, Forest Park Conservancy

• Bob Dolphin, Whitaker Ponds

• Christie Quinn, Bookmobile babe / Lents Park

• Volunteer, Marx Pedestrian Pathway along SW Broadway Avenue

• Dottie Alberg, Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

• Gloria & Tom Wiemann, Leach Botanical Garden

• James Tunley, Laurelhurst Park and neighborhood

• Janet Parenteau, Lan Su Chinese Garden

• Javier Puga-Phillips, Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA)

• Laura R. Campos, Multnomah Art Center and SW Portland

• Leigh Nunez, Sellwood Community House

• Leslie Smith, Johns Garden

• Marianne Dickinson, Fulton Park community gardens

• Mark Smallwood, Peninsula Park Rose Garden

• Marti Yoder, Elizabeth Caruthers Park

• Nancy and Peter Mogelnicki, Wilshire Park

• Paddy Tillett, Portland Parks Board

• Rachel Burdon, Columbia Park

• Robin Jensen, Marquam Nature Park

• Scott Goodman, Brentwood Darlington Neighborhood

• Stephen Anderson, Colonel Summer Community Garden

• Suzanne Briggs, Rose City Bluff north of the Rose City Golf Course

• Tim Copeman, Gateway Green

• Tom Hernandez, Hoyt Arboretum Friends

Beyond Recreation: Climate, Social Justice, and the Urban Landscape Ahead

Monday, March 28, 2022 6pm on Zoom

As with most American cities, Portland's park system has been shaped by two movements: the City Beautiful/Olmsted tradition of the turn of the 20th century and the mid-century recreation movement. In our parks, we enjoy the beauty and we play.

Researchers, professors, and activists Vivek Shandas and C.N.E. Corbin contend the 21st century demands new approaches. "This is not your grandfather's recreation," says Corbin. "We are entering an ecological reality in which speculation is all we have." In short, we need to imagine and experiment, reconciling what parks, urban nature, and recreation are and who they serve. As climate change, inequities, and political discord become more acute, they argue, we must imagine bolder futures.

Shandas, is a professor in the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and founder of the Sustaining Urban Places Research Lab at PSU. He is chair of Portland’s Urban Forestry Commission. Corbin is an assistant professor of Urban Political Ecology. Both are visionaries. Shandas's research on urban tree canopies and heat island effect has been featured in publications and is increasingly used by cities across the world. Corbin studies the relationships between uneven distribution of environmental harms and the uneven development of environmental goods. She incorporates media studies and visual culture, often deploying speculative fiction and Afrofuturism, to understand how images represent and influence environmental and racial understandings of urban spaces.

Thank you for joining us for Beyond Recreation: Climate, Social Justice, and the Urban Landscape Ahead! We are truly grateful to our speakers C.N.E. Corbin and Vivek Shandas.

During the Q&A C.N.E. Corbin and Vivek Shandas recommended these books

• Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach

• Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

• The Soil Will Save Us by Kristin Ohlson

And special thanks to our presenting sponsor U.S. Bank and all the attendees who donated at registration!

Presented by

Parks and Consequences—Hidden Histories of Olmsted Parks Tradition, from New York to Portland

Monday, March 14, 6PM on Zoom
and in-person at Steeplejack Brewing Company, 2400 NE Broadway

Portland Parks Foundation is hosting our first live event since 2019 inside the beautiful architecture of a former 1906 Unitarian Universalist Church-turned-brewery as two of Portland's most accomplished historians probe Frederick Law Olmsted's design and creation of Central Park in New York and John Charles Olmsted's 1903 parks plan for Portland.

The brilliance, beauty, and ecological influence of the two Olmsted's visionary work continue to be enjoyed, but they've come with other impacts: displacement of previously settled populations, exclusionary zoning, practices in design, and sanctioned parks activities. We'll look at the successes, the myths, and the influences, intended and not, in both cities and the larger American parks tradition.

Catherine McNeur, is professor of history, PSU, and author of Taming Manhattan: Environmental Battles in the Antebellum City. Carl Abbott, emeritus professor of urban studies and planning, PSU, is author of Portland in Three Centuries and many other books about Portland.

Thank you for joining us in our programming experiment: Parks and Consequences—Hidden Histories of Olmsted Parks Tradition, from New York to Portland!

• Our first live event since 2019

• A new venue

• Our first hybrid live/Zoom event

We are truly grateful to our speakers Catherine McNeur professor of history, PSU, and author of Taming Manhattan: Environmental Battles in the Antebellum City, and Carl Abbot, emeritus professor of urban studies and planning, PSU, and author of Portland in Three Centuries and many other books about Portland.

And special thanks to our presenting sponsor U.S. Bank and all the attendees who donated at registration!

Lastly, a correction:
As moderator, I mistakenly stated that Portland's first Parks Board members were "developers." They were, in fact, Mayor George Williams (Chairman, and variously, a lawyer and judge), Ion Lewis (architect), J.D. Meyer (a "Common City Councilor"), T.L. Eliot (Minister, Unitarian Church), and L.L. Hawkins (banker). My larger point was that Olmsted hoped that his proposed parks would be kept out of public eye so as to not spark land speculation. But in Portland, as in many cities, that wish was not fulfilled. The Oregonian published the plan soon after it was completed as the city was about to expand several-fold in private development. Meantime, Olmsted went on to work for a number of private clients, several of whom were developers. Apologies for the mistake! -- Randy Gragg, Executive Director

If you enjoyed this talk, check out our upcoming Green Dreams Lecture:

• March 28 on Zoom or live at Steeplejack Brewing Co. Beyond Recreation: Climate, Social Justice, and the Urban Landscape Ahead. Get tickets here

Presented by,

Greening Democracy: Frederick Law Olmsted, Slavery, & American Park Design with Sara Zwede

Monday, March 7 at 6pm, Zoom.
Please note: this event is live only and will not be recorded.

Frederick Law Olmsted is best known as America’s most influential public park designer. He and his firm developed parks for countless cities across the continent, from NYC's Central Park to Portland's earliest park system. But to landscape designer Sara Zewde, Olmsted helped shape democracy through his parks, and that began with his travels through, and writing on, the southern Cotton Kingdom. His widely read journalism and books helped galvanize the northern states against slavery before the Civil War.

Historians typically portray Olmsted’s journalism and landscape design as distinct chapters of his career. But to Zewde, landscape architect and professor of landscape design at Harvard University, Olmsted was simply working at “different scales” in a larger project of American social reform. His thinking, she says, encompassed everything from the “national state of democracy to what that means for a path in the park.” In the summer of 2019, Zewde retraced Olmsted’s steps to understand how his travels and observations led to the formation of landscape architecture as we know it today. She will share her research and how she applies Olmsted’s principles in her own award-winning park designs.

During the Q&A Sara Zewde recommended these three books.

• The Park and the People: A History of Central Park by Elizabeth Blackmar and Roy Rosenzweig

• River of Dark Dreams by Walter Johnson

• Colonial Ecology, Atlantic Economy Transforming Nature in Early New England by Strother E. Roberts

And special thanks to our presenting sponsor U.S. Bank, to GreenWorks, and all the attendees who donated at registration!

Presented by,

Meet Three of Our Most Committed Volunteers

Meet three of the Portland Parks Foundation’s most committed volunteers: our board members. 

Melissa Naito, Silas Sanderson, and J.R. Lilly share their what brought them to PPF and what keeps them working so diligently and generously for the Foundation today. 

And please consider a year-end contribution and help us help people help parks! 

Announcing the Fall 2021 Small Grant Recipients

Portland Parks Foundation is Excited to Announce our Fall 2021 Grant Recipients

PPF’s small grants program supports local organizations that steward public parks, park programs, community gardens and natural areas. This Fall our community-based review committee selected five organizations to receive a $2000 grant to support general operating or a specific program. PPF is proud to partner with five new organizations committed to increasing opportunities for Black, Indigenous and people of color, immigrant and refugees, individuals with a disability, and low-income and marginalized youth and their families in public parks, nature and community centers.

Boise Eliot Native Grove

The Boise Eliot Native Grove is a volunteer run organization with a mission of restoring the habitat, cultivating education and growing community. The Boise Eliot Native Grove is a pollinator support grove and public nature space built by and for the community on Portland Bureau of Transportation land, formerly an unimproved right-of-way full of invasive species and used as a trash dump.

Community involvement is essential to the ongoing maintenance and support of the native grove. Students and teachers from Boise-Eliot and Humboldt School, who, along with students and faculty from The Ivy School and Self Enhancement, Inc., have contributed extensive design ideas and habitat restoration support to the grove.

This past summer the “heat dome” and the long, dry weather caused detrimental effects on the plant community, killing off a number of shrubs and knocking back some native ground covers.

This grant will go towards the 2022 Earth Day event plus plant specimen replacement, new signs and Library box and books, and general maintenance on the Grove.

Green Lents

Green Lents, cultivates a thriving, resilient and environmentally just community through engagement, education and collective action. In recent years, they have focused on increasing equitable access and leadership over environmental resources and benefits to those most impacted by gentrification, development, climate change and increased urban high-heat zones, wildfire smoke pollution and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 has hit many communities and nonprofits hard over the last two years. Due to funding shortages, Green Lents was forced to cut back on staff expenditures. With programs funded by grants and donations, maintaining the same operational budget during Covid in 2021 proved difficult.

Over the next few month, they will work with board members, volunteers and partners to conduct surveys, determine community needs, and project outlines and budgeting. This grant will support the organization in addressing a funding gap to ensure current programming will not be interrupted during the planning process and provide stability and continuity for a robust 2022.

Portland Fruit Tree Project

Portland Fruit Tree Project increases equitable access to healthful foods and strengthens communities by empowering neighbors to share in the harvest and care of city-grown produce. The organization coordinates harvesting and sharing surplus fruit amongst communities and community organizations, sustains several mobile orchard and vegetable garden plots in partnership with community organizations, and educates the community on issues of equitable tree canopy, food justice, and the complexities of the food system.

As the Portland Fruit Tree project expands, they seek to build a workforce development program around fruit tree care, increase equity centered harvesting opportunities, called Healing Harvests, to address harm experienced primarily by the Black and Latino/a/x communities around harvesting food, and further community based research around barriers to accessing fruit as well as a research project focused on increasing people sharing harvests that are less reliant on organizational intervention.

The grant will support the organization as they seek to expand these services and programs.

Sail2Change

Sail2Change (S2C) empowers historically underserved and underrepresented youth through access to sailing, environmental education, mentorship and tutoring as a catalyst for equitable academic opportunity and maritime industry employment. Through sailing and outdoor education, S2C promotes equitable access to Portland’s waterways and natural areas.

Their activities encourage youth to spend more time outdoors and take advantage of Portland’s natural beauty. Many of the youth have never been to the local parks and waterways S2C frequents. As part of the sailing lessons they provide, youth explore the Willamette River and are able to experience their hometown in a new way. While sailing, youth will visit Sellwood Riverfront Park, Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and will head downtown to the Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

Funding from this grant will provide programming to a larger number of youth and help to spread the word about their free programming.

Scott School Basketball Goldenball Program

The Scott School Basketball Program uses basketball as a way to enable children from the community to have a positive after school environment to develop physical, social skills and self-esteem. Scott School is located in the Cully neighborhood and has a large population of low income and students of color. The program is volunteer run, however there are costs associated with league fees, uniforms and equipment. After a season away, due to Covid, 80 students across 3rd, 4th and 5th grade will be able to participate in the Scott School Basketball Program.

The goal of the program, coached by long time physical education teacher and basketball coach, Ken Lee, is not to win games but to ensure all students are included in the game and develop team cooperation and individual growth.

The small grant will help defer some of the registration fees for children on free lunch programs at Scott School. Offsetting the costs of the program, uniforms and equipment will provide opportunities for more students to get involved in after school basketball.

Stories of Impact: Champion of Small Organizations

The backbone of our parks system is small volunteer organizations. This week, we profile two such groups that your contributions to the Portland Parks Foundation have helped to do their work.

Friends of Pier Park (FPP) is an all-volunteer neighborhood group that enhances and advocates for this magnificent 85-acre North Portland park, ensuring all visitors feel safe and invited. FPP involves its surrounding neighborhoods' richly diverse communities to activate and care for the park. Through a small grant and training funded by your contributions, the Foundation helped Friends of Pier Park expand and transform their work. 

The Foundation also helps new organizations like Friends of Gateway Green get started through fiscal sponsorships and training. 

Please consider a year-end gift to help us continue this work. Make your tax-deductible donation today!

Stories of Impact: People Of Color Outdoors

People of Color Outdoors does exactly what its name suggests: it connects Black, Indigenous and People of Color to Portland’s extraordinary parks and natural areas. 

Portland Parks Foundation’s Small Grants Program gave People of Color Outdoors a boost this year. The Portland Parks Foundation’s Small Grants Program awards financial support to community-based organizations within the city of Portland who foster equitable access to our urban parks, natural areas, community gardens and community recreation centers.

For 20 years, we’ve helped groups like POC Outdoors realize their dreams. Any gift, big or small helps us continue this work. Consider a contribution today!