Portland, OR. Bank of America provided $1,481,114 in grants in 2021 to more than 60 nonprofits in the region. The funds support career development, housing security, food security, education, and services supporting economic mobility for individuals and families and more.
Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, Rosemary Anderson High School (POIC + RAHS) and Bridge Meadows have been named as the 2021 Bank of America Neighborhood Builders® awardees for their work in the Portland area addressing the region’s issues around homelessness and systemic injustice. With this recognition, they will be able to scale up to help even more people through a multi-year grant from Bank of America.
As Neighborhood Builders, each organization receives a $200,000 grant, comprehensive leadership training for the executive director, and an emerging leader on topics ranging from increasing financial sustainability, human capital management, and strategic storytelling. They join a network of peer organizations across the U.S. and get the opportunity to access capital to expand their impact. The program continues to be the nation’s largest investment into nonprofit leadership development
“As communities continue to recover and navigate a changing landscape, nonprofits are still experiencing significant demands and are in need of resources to help meet critical local needs such as workforce development and affordable housing,” said Roger Hinshaw, President, Bank of America Oregon and Southwest Washington. “POIC + RAHS and Bridge Meadows are bridging important gaps for individuals and families to help them chart a path toward economic opportunity and stability. Programs like Neighborhood Builders helps these organizations grow sustainably and strategically for greater positive impact in our community.”
POIC + RAHS has served Portland for more than 50 years, assisting more than 3,000 historically underserved students, work trainees and families annually through alternative education, workforce development and family outreach. They also provide wraparound services, such as youth mentoring programs, leadership development, and career coaching for families impacted by the criminal justice system. The Neighborhood Builders grant will support their newest project, “The Kitchen.” It will become a culinary education training ground for the community, particularly communities of color, and will provide nutritious lunches to students at Rosemary Anderson High School, which currently purchases lunches from another school district.
“Our students are hungry. And not just for food. They crave leadership opportunities, genuine adult mentorship, safe outlets for creative expression, and pathways to meaningful, living-wage career options. At POIC + RAHS, we want to do more – we want to nourish them,” said CEO and President of POIC + RAHS, Joe McFerrin II. “More than standard school lunches, we want to provide nutrient-dense food made with love and offered with an invitation to heal – emotionally, physically. With help from Bank of America’s funding through the Neighborhood Builders’ grant, The Kitchen is where all of these opportunities come together – health, education, employment, community, camaraderie. The Kitchen is where real nourishment will start for our students, their families, and our shared community.”
For 10 years, Bridge Meadows has brought generations together to improve health and well-being through meaning, purpose, and belonging. Built around the concept of interdependence, Bridge Meadows’ affordable housing communities support 300 children who have experienced the foster care system, their adoptive families, and elders, who serve as mentors. Bridge Meadows provides safe, affordable housing and interrupts the cycles of poverty, instability, and isolation that weaken communities over generations. The organization hopes to double capacity over the next two years. The Neighborhood Builders grant will allow them to expand, hire staff, and can even help grow their current affordable housing communities.
“We are truly honored to be awarded the Neighborhood Builder Award by Bank of America,” said Dr. Derenda Schubert, Executive Director of Bridge Meadows. “Together we can ensure children, families, and elders live safe and abundant lives. This partnership ensures children, families and elders know they belong in the community and that their lives matter. Investment from Bank of America will significantly impact Bridge Meadows and catapult us from a local organization serving several communities in Oregon to a regional – and eventually national – organization capable of impacting countless lives across the region.”
From Bank of America:
Since 2004, Bank of America has invested more than $280 million in 50 communities through Neighborhood Builders, partnering with more than 1,400 nonprofits and helping more than 2,800 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills. Here in Portland and Southwest Washington, 27 nonprofits have been selected as a Neighborhood Builder, with the bank investing more than $5 million in these local organizations through the program since 2004.
Neighborhood Builders is just one example of how Bank of America deploys capital in communities, builds cross-sector partnerships, and promotes socioeconomic progress as part of its approach to responsible growth. So far in 2021, across Oregon and SW Washington, Bank of America has provided more than $1 million through grants and sponsorships to community partners to drive economic mobility through basic needs, jobs, community vitality & advancing racial equity. Some of the nonprofit organizations include:
· Adelante Mujeres
· Albertina Kerr Centers
· All Hands Raised
· Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis
· Boys & Girls Club of Portland Metropolitan Area
· Bridge Housing Corporation
· Central City Concern
· Clark Community College
· Clark County Food Bank
· Corporation for Supportive Housing
· Corvallis Neighborhood Housing Services
· Deschutes County Children’s Foundation
· Dress for Success Oregon
· Elderheart
· Friends of the Children Portland
· Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest
· Habitat for Humanity of Central Lane
· Habitat for Humanity of the Mid-Willamette Valley
· Habitat for Humanity Portland Metro East
· Heart of Oregon Corps
· Hispanic Metro Chamber of Commerce
· Impact NW
· Junior Achievement of Oregon and SW Washington
· Literary Arts
· Marion Polk Food Share
· Meals on Wheels People
· Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation
· Micro Enterprise Services of Oregon
· New Avenues for Youth
· Northwest Housing Alternatives
· Northwest Youth Corps
· Oregon Food Bank
· ReBuilding Center
· Portland Community College
· Project Lemonade
· Proud Ground
· Reach CDC
· Relief Nursery
· Schoolhouse Supplies
· SE Works
· Self Enhancement, Inc.
· SHARE
· Sheltercare
· Store to Door
· Sunshine Division Portland
· Virginia Garcia Memorial Foundation
· Volunteers in Medicine Clinic
· Youth Era
· YWCA Clark County
POIC + RAHS
Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center and Rosemary Anderson High School provides the highest quality services in alternative education, mentoring, family outreach, employment training, and placement. Serving the BIPOC community for more than 50 years, POIC + RAHS reconnects alienated at-risk youth and adults affected by poverty, family instability, and homelessness to education, career training, and culturally-specific wraparound programs, including services for families impacted by the criminal justice system. Its Strategic Partnerships are grounded in the mutual desires to provide equitable services to our communities and clients, shared core values, and a commitment to growth that strengthens the partnership. Learn more about POIC + RAHS at portlandoic.org and on social media.
Bridge Meadows
Bridge Meadows is a 501(c)(3) multi-generational housing community serving Oregon’s foster youth, adoptive parents and elders (55+). Its mission is to offer permanency in the lives of foster children by providing homes, supporting adoptive parents with resources and giving elders purpose in their daily lives. The nonprofit has three locations, including one that opened in North Portland in April 2011, one in Beaverton, opened in 2017 and one in Redmond, opened in 2021. Bridge Meadows will expand its housing model to communities across the state. For more information, please visit: www.bridgemeadows.org.
Bank of America
At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a
company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact. Learn more at about.bankofamerica.com, and connect with us on Twitter (@BofA_News).
