Once again, tt’s grant time at the Papé Family Foundation! Every spring, our Grant Committee recommends General Grants to our Trustees for a vote and then we will fund these grants! Our fourth generation Adjunct Trustees will review the remaining applications and make their own recommendation by the end of 2020.

Thank you to all the organizations that took the time to participate in our grant making process.

As always, our Grant Committee had a tough job. This year they selected nine organizations in California, Oregon, Texas and Washington. You can learn more about these organizations and their projects below!

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Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) (Portland, OR)

When OMSI’s Chemistry Lab opened in the mid-1990s, it was an incredibly innovative space. Funded by the National Science Foundation, it was the very first wet chemistry lab to be open to the public in the United States. The lab was outfitted with the original furnishings (including counters) that were installed for the grand opening of the space, more than 25 years ago.Today, the Chemistry lab engages 200,000+ visitors annually with a wide variety of hands-on experiments and activities. Through self-directed and facilitated programs, the lab and gives visitors opportunities to safely mix, measure, and pour chemicals. It is included with OMSI’s general admission. OMSI also offers reserved labs for visiting school groups. Families and school groups with children as young as five years old, enjoy the demonstrations and experiments that the lab has to offer.  With the help of the PFF grant, the goal of this project is to upgrade the original counter-tops in OMSI’s Chemistry Lab, replacing them with a new, phenolic resin product to transform the space into a cleaner, safer, and more functional lab facility. This project will benefit an estimated 1.25 million learners over the course of the next five years alone.

Cascade Bicycle Club (Seattle, WA)

Let’s Go! is a free, three-week safety unit that provides physical education teachers with the curriculum, skills, and equipment needed to implement a bicycle and pedestrian safety course for their students. The program gives students skills and knowledge to prevent the most common bicycle and pedestrian errors; this includes learning the anatomy of intersections, using situational awareness, fitting a helmet, basic bike handling skills, right of way concepts and more.  The PFF grant will provide a new bicycle fleet of 33 bicycles for Middle School aged children.  The project will reach 120 middle school students, ages 11-14, in four Seattle Public Schools.

Compass Family Services(San Francisco, CA)

Compass Clara House has more than 20 years of experience in housing families experiencing homelessness while partnering with them to achieve their educational and career goals in order to transition from homelessness to stability and economic independence. Thirteen families at a time live in private, furnished apartments for 18-24 months in a healthy and safe environment that emphasizes a respectful peer community where families can heal and make positive changes. While at Clara House, parents work to find and secure permanent housing; increase their skills to establish a career path; learn independent living and decision-making skills; and learn coping mechanisms and skills for dealing with issues related to addiction, relationships, self-care, and parenting.  A grant from the Papé Family Foundation will go towards the following building improvement projects that will help to maintain the safety and health of residents and program staff.

Genesis Community Health, Inc. (Garden City, ID)

The Genesis’ Dental Clinic is the only free clinic in Southern Idaho’s Treasure Valley where adults experiencing poverty can get relief from tooth pain at no cost to them. These individuals often do not have access to dental care, and as a result, are often faced with oral health issues that become exacerbated. Genesis’ preventative dental services keep adults out of the ER and ultimately lower healthcare costs for everyone. Genesis is expanding dental services by 25% to keep up with the dental demand.  The PFF grant will provide updated equipment for the expansion of the dental program.

Kids FIRST(Eugene, OR)

Over the past 25 years, Kids FIRST has continually assessed what can be done to improve and advance the fundamental intervention services provided to child victims of abuse from across Lane County. We serve over 600 children and their families each year for concerns of child sexual abuse, physical abuse, and witness to violence. 2/3 of the children we serve are under the age of 12. Limitation of space has long hindered our ability to expand services. From this need, the Kids FIRST Capital Project was born; a quest to secure a long-term home to better serve children and families.  With the support of the PFF grant, this new center will allow our services to transition from 3,090 square feet to over 9,000 square feet and will allow greater opportunities for Kids FIRST. The Kids FIRST Capital Project is sustainable, as it will house our abuse intervention services for many years to come. Unlike our former leased space, we are the owners of our new building, which means we have the ability to customize the space to appropriately to fit the needs of our clients.

McCall Public Library Foundation(McCall, ID)

The McCall Public Library moved to its current location and facilities in 1973, and since that time McCall’s population has nearly doubled. At its current 4,000 square feet the McCall Public Library’s facilities are at a breaking point and hinder access to resources, knowledge, and meeting space for community residents.  PFF’s grant to The Next Chapter Library Expansion Project will support the expansion of the library facility to 15,000 square feet in order to meet the current needs of our community and to allow for future growth. An expansion will drastically improve the ability of the McCall Public Library to serve as the leading resource for knowledge and central hub for social programs, community gatherings, and educational services in the rural mountain town of McCall, Idaho. The expansion of McCall Public Library’s facilities is vital to maintaining our community’s number one public resource. It will increase access to innovative programming such as STEM workshops in a new Makers’ Space and forward-thinking, solution-based social programs in the Citizens’ Hall. It will improve patron experiences with the addition of comfortable reading areas, a dedicated Children’s Library, private study rooms and upgraded lighting, heating and tech systems. It will allow for the resource collection to grow and host traveling exhibits. The library expansion will meet the needs of our growing population and will result in energy efficiency cost savings. It will allow the library to meet 21st century technological demands of its patrons and contribute greatly to the overall sustainability and procurement of knowledge in McCall and the surrounding area.

Metta, INC (Dallas, TX)

Metta, Inc.’s mission is to bring a mindfulness connection into homes and communities throughout the United States by offering training, scholarships and other financial assistance to those whose income or other barriers, such as disabilities, have prevented them from having access to such programs. Our primary goal is to help children and adults overcome stress caused by disability, poverty, violence, hunger and so many other challenges. Metta will be the first organization of its kind in the U.S. to offer a school-based curriculum that can positively shift the paradigm. Metta, Inc. in partnership with Present Moment Labs is breaking new ground by bringing mindfulness to children with special needs, as well as their teachers and parents. This innovative new program is slated to launch in 2020 in Grand Prairie Independent School District.  Specifically, the PFF grant will help to cover the cost to purchase 200 decks of flashcards and deliver mindfulness certification for 20 educators.

Team Reed(Seattle, WA)

Team Read believes that all kids deserve to be great readers, and that teens should have access to meaningful paid jobs, and neither of those things should be limited to the school year. Summer is an important time for students to prepare for the school year ahead and fill proficiency gaps, preventing the “summer slide” that can cause students to lose a month or more of the knowledge they gained during the previous school year, with reading comprehension, vocabulary growth, and reading ability the skills that suffer most. Reading at grade level is critical, impacting student success in all subjects, including math, which itself is critical to success in higher-order STEAM subjects.  The Papé Family Foundation grant will support 2020’s Summer STEAM: Reading Tutoring + STEAM Enrichment program. Grant funds will be used to purchase tutoring site supplies such as books, printed materials including curriculum workbooks, t-shirts for readers and coaches, and to fund Free Friday hands-on programs with community partners like Pacific Science Center, The Reptile Man, and more.

Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (Dallas, TX)

Scottish Rite Hospital opened its doors to the children of Texas in 1921 when one of Dallas’ first orthopedic surgeons, W. B. Carrell, M.D., was approached by a group of Texas Masons to provide superior medical care to children suffering from polio. With the introduction of the Salk and Sabin vaccines in the mid-1950s, which virtually eradicated polio in the Western Hemisphere, the hospital broadened its focus to include other orthopedic conditions. Thanks to the generosity of supporters throughout the country, Scottish Rite for Children has emerged as one of the nation’s leading medical centers for the treatment of pediatric orthopedic conditions, including scoliosis, clubfoot, hand differences, hip disorders, limb length discrepancies and sports injuries. Each year, our staff provides extensive treatment and therapy to more than 25,000 children, regardless of any family’s ability to pay.

One of the crucial responsibilities of our nursing staff is to provide patients with supportive care, including monitoring body temperature, respiratory status, blood oxygenation levels and blood pressure both before surgery and during the post-operative, recovery period. A portable vital signs monitor allows for seamless observation of oxygen saturation, temperature, respiration rate, heart rate, and blood pressure for a patient from pre-operative evaluation through the duration of the inpatient stay. This equipment is critical to the health of each patient. The Pape Family Foundation grant to purchase two vital signs monitors and accompanying work stations for the hospital’s Inpatient Nursing Unit .

It’s grant time at the Papé Family Foundation! Every spring, our Grant Committee recommends General Grants to our Trustees for a vote and then I get to write checks. Our fourth generation Adjunct Trustees will now review the remaining applications and make their own recommendation by the end of the summer.

Thank you to all the organizations that took the time to participate in our grant making process. My vision for PFF is that we continue to work with organizations in our communities to implement best practices and try out new design models in philanthropy. Together I believe we can increase capacity building and inclusiveness within our communities! We wouldn’t, couldn’t, exist without you!

As always, our Grant Committee had a tough job.  This year they selected nine organizations in Oregon and Washington.  You can learn more about these organizations and their projects below!

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High Desert Museum (Bend, OR)

In 2016, the Museum began Little Wonders to provide essential developmental opportunities that prepare children for kindergarten and help close the opportunity gap in Central Oregon. The project aims to: provide 360 complimentary memberships to Head Start families and reduce barriers to museum access; host two family nights to engage new audiences; and foster a habit of Museum-going for families to create opportunities for children to make self-directed discoveries and expand their knowledge. In recognition of possible language barriers, the Museum is translating their membership letter and materials and flyers into Spanish. PFF’s grant helps support this program.

Friends of the Children  (Portland, OR)

Center of Excellence Renovations for High Priority Youth will prioritize renovations to transform the Morris building into the Friends of the Children Center for Excellence – a more comfortable, accessible, and useful space for our growing community of youth, friends, chapters, and partners. Specifically, this grant will support a computer station for youth to use while working on school assignments, career exploration, and other tasks that align with the youth’s individualized goals and Friends of the Children’s organizational focus on postsecondary success.

Portland YouthBuilders (Portland, OR)

Since 1995, PYB has annually served 200 low income young people between 17 and 24 who have dropped out of high school, with a program of education, vocational training, counseling, and long term support. PFF has supported the work of PYB since 2001 with 10 different grants. In 2019 PFF is contributing to the Southeast Portland Expansion Project. In this overall effort, PYB will improve the delivery of services and increase access to education and workforce development programs for outer Southeast and East County, Portland youth. The garage will be converted into functioning space that will be used for student counseling and staff meeting spaces. For this component of the overall Southeast Portland Expansion Project, PYB will update the garage by adding electrical service, shelving and desks, sealing of concrete flooring, exterior fencing and security alarm, and interior trim work, and painting. Hear from a recent PYB graduate in this video!

Veterans Legacy (Eugene, OR)

Veterans Legacy is a community-based, non-profit located in Lane County, Oregon and works to break the cycle of veteran suicides and mental health disorders due to untreated and underserved veterans experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), homelessness, substance abuse, and associated traumas. Veterans Legacy provides a safe and stable environment at Camp Alma, a 105-acre farm that serves as their primary campus. While at Camp Alma, clients are provided education, therapies, and social support services. A grant from PFF will support a kitchen refurbishment (upgrade of the fire suppression system and purchase of a walk-in freezer) at the camp and enable Veterans Legacy to expand services. The large commercial kitchen there serves as the primary food preparation site for clients and staff.

Eugene Education Foundation (Eugene, OR)

The Eugene Education Foundation has invested in the Eugene School District 4J’s literacy efforts, along with funding other enrichment areas, since its inception. In order to better serve the students of the district, the EEF board has determined that a more targeted focus on literacy would begin this past year. This focus involves not only directing more resources to the district for literacy efforts, but also regular meetings with district stakeholders to discuss the district’s needs and most effective approaches to improving student success. This year’s grant from PFF will provide one-third of the funding needed to implement this program and curriculum. The curriculum is directed toward fostering students’ understanding and working knowledge of concepts of spoken words, syllables, and phonemes which are foundational skills necessary for students to develop into successful and lifelong readers. Available in both English and Spanish, the curriculum can be tailored for students with a wide spectrum of needs, including students with dyslexia as well as students with an IEP (Individualized Education Program).

Eugene Civic Alliance (Eugene, OR)

Eugene Civic Alliance (ECA) formed in 2014 to purchase and operate the historic Civic Stadium property for recreational use. Through programs and events at Civic Park, ECA is uniquely situated to address improving the health and fitness of children in our community, reducing the shortage of places for play, and creating a community space for sports and events. Civic Park will be a community-focused space. It will serve people of all ages and backgrounds and promote fitness and health for our entire community. The new facility will include the first Kidsports Fieldhouse. ECA is dedicated to ensuring equitable access to the benefits of Civic Park. PFF’s grant will help build one of two outdoor basketball courts.

Making a Difference Foundation (Seattle, WA)

Making A Difference Foundation’s mission is to make a difference in the lives of others, one person at a time, by helping them acquire the most basic human needs: food, housing, encouragement, and opportunity. MADF started in 2003 providing scholarships and funding for third world humanitarian missions, then moved into direct service to address local needs in the Puget Sound region with the opening of Eloise’s Cooking Pot (ECP) Food Bank in 2009. The ECP Food Bank serves low and very low-income residents of Pierce County, Washington, specifically Tacoma’s east side, with healthy prepackaged and fresh organic food. The ECP Food Bank is the third largest food bank in the county and located in an area that is racially and ethnically diverse and identified as a food desert. Clients face food shortage and financial instability on a daily basis and ECP works to remove all barriers to receiving food and other needed items for these neighbors with about 40,000 unduplicated people being served annually through the food bank with more than 1.2 million pounds of food. PFF’s grant will fund the purchase of an electric pallet truck for the ECP Food Bank. This piece of equipment will be used in the food bank’s warehouse/storage area to help more easily move and manage the in-kind food and products donated to MADF and enable the organization to better serve people in need in the Pierce County community.

Shared Housing Services (Tacoma, WA)

The Transitional Family Housing Rehabilitation Project will update 12 safe, low-cost housing units for families experiencing homelessness. Shared Housing Services (SHS) offers families case management services and referrals to community resources to address areas of basic needs and the causes of their homelessness. In 2016, SHS made a commitment to refurbish each unit to bring them in-line with HUD’s Housing Quality Standards and to make them more energy efficient. PFF’s grant will help with completing this project and SHS will serve families more quickly by working with other community agencies to assist with rent and move-in costs, which are a prominent barrier for most very low-income families. Completion will provide energy cost savings by replacing old, inefficient water heaters (most are 12 – 14 years old or older), bathroom fixtures, window coverings, etc. Not only will this reduce energy costs, but will also provide water and energy conservation across the board. Having a safe, habitable place to call home is the first step and cornerstone for families to begin their journey towards independence.

Children’s Therapy Center (Kent, WA)  

The mission of Children’s Therapy Center (CTC) is to maximize the potential of children with special needs and communication delays. PFF’s grant this year supports Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) Devices. AAC refers to any form of communication other than oral speech and is used to complement or replace natural speech for people with severe communication deficits. AAC has been shown to help nonverbal children to communicate and interact socially, which improves their feelings of self-worth and self-confidence, decreases challenging behaviors, and improves their capacity to participate in school and community activities. The purchase of new and replacement AAC devices, including switch toys, iPads and associated AAC software applications, and AAC test kits will enable CTC speech therapists to evaluate and trial-run AAC devices with children more promptly, which will give more low-income children with autism or related communication delays the tools they need to be able to communicate.

It’s October and time to accept grant proposals from community organizations!

We’re very excited to be implementing a new Grants Management System this year. We’re working with Foundant to create a better user experience for both our trustees and organizations submitting project proposals. We’re ready to go live with our Letter of Inquiry stage and throughout the year we’ll be adding historical data to the system. Eventually, when a user logs into the system, they will be able to view all of their organization’s previous applications, grants, reports, and more.

Whether you are visiting our site for the first time or a previous applicant, please visit our Grants Section for updated information on this year’s grant process. We’re accepting Letters of Inquiry through November 1, 2017.

If you are new to grant writing, or just have specific questions about your proposal, please reach out! While we often wish we were a larger foundation with bigger grants to offer, one benefit of our relatively small size is the ability to engage with applicants throughout the process. We’re happy to answer questions, offer suggestions, and receive feedback. For us, grant-making is a collaborative experience. We hope you’ll join us!

We’re very excited to support the work of five organizations this year through our annual grants.  I’m very thankful to all who applied.  The best part of my job is reading through the proposals and learning about the incredible and inspiring work being done in our communities.  The grant committee then has the impossible task of making a final selection from many qualified and deserving applicants. You can learn more about the 2016 grant recipients below. Some of them we met through trustee connections and others found us via word of mouth.  Regardless of how, we appreciate the opportunity to build lasting relationships and provide opportunities for growth and development within our communities.

Our focus now shifts to preparation for our annual meeting, which gives us the opportunity to review our governance, investments, and grants, as well as catch up with extended family.  The Papé Family Foundation 2016-2017 grant cycle will open in the fall with an invitation to community organizations to submit Letters of Inquiry.  Please check back in September to apply for a grant.

 

2016 Papé Family Foundation Grants

Idaho Shakespeare Festival (Boise) was started in 1977 and currently produces 5 plays every year for over 63,000 patrons. My first experience with Shakespeare was with ISF when I was in grade school. They performed in a small, grassy setting in downtown Boise and I have memories of sitting on the lawn with my friends while watching a comedy (Twelfth Night? Comedy of Errors?).  

Idaho Shakespeare Festival currently sends 2 educational outreach tours into schools throughout the state, and operates a School of Theater offering classes and residencies where students of all ages learn to recite Shakespeare, perform musical theater, and more. ISF also operates the Access Program which offers complimentary and discounted tickets to at-risk youth, veterans, educators, seniors, students, and mothers and children in transitional housing, in order to increase the accessibility of ISF’s work. This program also provides ASL interpretation for the Deaf and hard of hearing in the community.  

PFF’s grant helps with the purchase of new sound equipment and we are happy to help make this upgrade possible.  

Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation (Portland) was founded in 1981 by business leaders and members of the Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission to accept donations for and make gifts to worthwhile fish, wildlife, and public access projects in Oregon. Since then OWHF has directed almost $17 million dollars in funding to projects, both large and small, throughout the state. Their mission is to empower the lasting conservation of fish and wildlife and citizen enjoyment of natural resources by growing public awareness of and participation in conservation, building private/public partnerships, and distributing charitable gifts of support to worthy projects.

Sturgeon Lake, on Sauvie Island in the Columbia River, is the largest lake on a river island anywhere in the United States. This unique habitat is a key stopover and critical link in the Pacific flyway for thousands of migratory birds and a winter refuge for juvenile salmon. For the hunters, anglers, wildlife viewers, and kayakers, Sturgeon Lake is irreplaceable.  Dairy Creek, one of only two connections between Sturgeon Lake and the Columbia, is plugged with debris from the 1996 flood and further hampered by failing culverts upstream. The slow drain of that water out of the lake is allowing the silt suspended in it to settle out to the bottom. Restoring connectivity to the Columbia will reintroduce flushing flows into the lake from Dairy Creek; substantially slowing the accumulation of sediment and ensuring that the birds, fish, and other wildlife that depend on the lake can continue to do so well into the future. 

A grant this year from the Papé Family Foundation will help OWHF obtain a matching grant to build a single structure that spans the entire width of the channel; maximizing water movement to flush the lake while minimizing the sedimentation caused by impounded water behind the structure.

City Hope (San Francisco) – began in 2005 out of City Church San Francisco as a way to engage with  neighbors. That process led to developing partnerships with non-profits, schools, hospitals, and the SF County Jail. Through work with the County Jail and with a mentorship program for men in recovery, City Hope became increasingly connected to the Tenderloin neighborhood, an area fraught with high drug use and homelessness – and all the associated traumas. 

The City Hope Community Development Center opened its doors in September, with the mission of fostering a community of healing in the Tenderloin through highly relational programs geared toward personal, social and spiritual health.  In an effort to build community and provide healthy food in San Francisco’s most pronounced food desert, City Hope serves meals at most of its community events. As program participation has increased, the need has arisen for additional space to store kitchen equipment and food, and countertops on which to safely prepare them.  Additionally, City Hope opens up their existing shower to clients as needed. This has helped build relationships but has also created with a pressing need to launder the towels and clothing. PFF is proud to once again partner with City Hope to assist with their expansion plan to increase kitchen capacity and add a washer/dryer unit.

Ranch Hand Rescue (Dallas) works to save abused and neglected farm animals with special focus on animals requiring critical care, to adopt out rehabilitated animals, to provide a caring sanctuary for the animals that have ongoing needs and to help people with personal, mental and psychological challenges to change and better their lives through Equine/Animal Assisted Counseling. Our trustee Michael Tooke has formed a relationship with RHR through site visits and even took his daughter along last year.  She loved meeting the animals!

Ranch Hand Rescue is in the process of completing an expansion.  After securing all of the funding and permits needed to construct their new Business/Welcome Center/Counseling Building, RHR was informed of additional requirements that significantly increased the cost of the project.  We provided initial funds for the expansion and this year’s grant will allow RHR to complete their plans for a permanent Business/Welcome Center/Counseling Building that meets the city standards.

BikeWorks (Seattle) builds sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling. Originally founded by a group grassroots activists, this year Bike Works is celebrating their 20th anniversary. Over those two decades they have remained committed to three core goals: (1) empower youth to lead healthy and productive lives; (2) make biking affordable and accessible to all people; and (3) promote sustainable transportation and environmental stewardship. We’ve gotten to know this incredible organization through our trustee Bryan Papé and his company, MiiR. As giving partners, BikeWorks and MiiR offer Seattle youth access to affordable transportation and job training.

Bike Works is the only organization of its kind in Seattle. Working at the intersection of youth development, healthy living, environmental stewardship and economic justice, their continuum of youth programs, classes and summer camps are designed to provide hands-on skills while helping youth realize their own worth within a community that supports, encourages and strengthens them.  A grant from PFF will be used to purchase six ‘Long-Haul Trucker’ Touring Bikes & Associated Equipment