News & Press
Tribal Mentorship program helps Tribal members gain work experience for future full-time employment
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by Shelley Hanson
Kids are being victimized. They are victimized in their homes, and in our communities. Nearly every day we read another incident of a child that hasn’t been adequately taken care of or protected.
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Activity Center, and self-esteem, going up
Tribal programs find construction jobs for Tribal and community members
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As many of you may already know, March has been designated National Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Awareness month, an opportunity for our community to learn more about the issues affecting more than seven million Americans with developmental disabilities. Spirit Mountain Community Fund (SMCF) invites you to take part in the National Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities awareness month and support children and adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities.
SMCF is honored to share with you the life changing impact Taylor Street Ovens, located in Corvallis, Oregon, is having in their community.
“Taylor Street Ovens means more than cookies”
Taylor Street Ovens makes more that 2,000 cookies every day, which make their way to grocery stores, coffee shops and convenience stores from Portland to Eugene.
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Washington DC Native American Internship Opportunity
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde located in Grand Ronde, Oregon announce that applications for the Mark O. Hatfield Congressional Fellowship are now available. Each year, a Hatfield Fellow serves as in intern for a member of Oregon's Congressional delegation. The Hatfield Fellow is selected from adult Native American applicants, 21 years and older, who are enrolled members of a federally recognized Tribe in Oregon. If there are no qualified applicants from Oregon, enrolled members of federally recognized Tribes in Washington, Idaho, and Montana will be considered and applications will reopen at a later date TBA. The successful candidate will intern in Washington DC for nine months.
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Great things are happening at Spirit Mountain Community Fund in 2008 and we’d like to tell you about them.
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At a time when families and neighbors celebrate the joy of the holiday season and have hopes for a better and brighter future, there are more and more persons who are not able to share this same prospective due to circumstances not of their making or preference.
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In an effort to continue to support our grantees, we are offering individual appointments for grant writers who need a little extra assistance in understanding and completing our online application process. On Thursday, January 31, 2008 our Director Shelley Hanson and Program Officer Louis King will have 15 minute appointments available to the smaller, inexperienced grant writers to have a one-on-one consultation. These meetings are not intended for larger, experienced organizations to come meet and greet with Shelley and Louis. They are targeted at new applicants to our electronic application process. Appointments will be held at our office in Grand Ronde by appointment only. If you would like to schedule an appointment, please contact Kluane Baer at 503-879-1400 or via email at kluane.baer@grandronde.org.
Thank you.
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For ten years, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, through Spirit Mountain Community Fund, has quietly been making community investments totaling $40 million. Unless you work in a western Oregon non-profit, you probably didn’t know that this was happening. It’s awe inspiring that a terminated tribe has been able to make the lives of our friends and neighbors easier and enriched to this extent.
Well, someone noticed us! On Saturday November 17th, Spirit Mountain Community Fund and the Grand Ronde Tribe were awarded the Philanthropist of the Year award by Seattle-based Potlach Fund. Potlach Fund offers fundraising training to Tribes in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. Their goal is to encourage tribes to work with the philanthropic sector to meet the social and economic needs of their reservations. Each year Potlach awards outstanding leaders and Spirit Mountain Community Fund is proud to be one of their 2007 award recipients.
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The Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees held their regularly scheduled quarterly meeting on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 and reviewed 75 grant applications. The grant applications reviewed by funding category are summarized as follows:
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We believe in what you do and are proud to support the work of a variety of non-profits in the Willamette Valley. Each year we provide nearly $5 million in funding for non-profits. Most of you know about that. It's what we do and we are proud to do it. What you may not know is the amount of partnership and contribution we are doing in other ways.
It's important for Oregon non-profits. Many of you have done an excellent job collaborating together on meeting mutual needs. We are proud to be a founding member of the newest voice for Oregon non-profits - the Non Profit Association of Oregon (NAO). Shelley Hanson, our Director, is on the NAO board. If you aren't aware of NAO, check out their website and learn more about the organization. It was formed in June (yes, only four months ago) and has grown to a membership of over 500 Oregon non-profits. Not bad for only four months of work! What it really says is that the non-profit community was hungry to have a united presence across the State. We are proud to support their effort. If you would like to learn more about NAO, please see their website at: www.ornonprofits.org. This is a really special month for NAO. In order to celebrate their success and further spread the word about the association, on November 14th, NAO is hosting four celebration events across the state where non-profit staff and board members can come and learn more about NAO and each other.
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Dennis Worden the 2007-08 Hatfield Fellow, successfully completed his fellowship experience in Congressman Wu’s Office in Washington, D.C., at the end of July 2007.
Dennis has expressed his gratitude and appreciation to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Spirit Mountain Community Fund for the Hatfield Fellowship opportunity. As Dennis reflected on his Hatfield Fellowship experience, he offered the following comments:
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We're sorry if you missed it...but it was spectacular!
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde celebrated the 10th anniversary of the creation of Spirit Mountain Community Fund. Thursday September 13th, the Fund held its celebration at the Oregon Garden in Silverton, commemorating the Tribe's humble beginning ten years ago. In that time, the Tribe has invested over $40 million through grants to non-profit agencies in the eleven county service area.
Invited guests enjoyed an evening of excellent food as well as tribal entertainment. Kathryn Harrison, former tribal chariperson, opened the event with an invocation and blessing. Then the tribal honor guard and the Shunka Sapah drum conducted a traditional grand entry ceremony, including posting of colors. After a meal of salmon and buffalo, the founders and trustees of the Community Fund were honored with hand-made beaded gifts to recognize their efforts to earn the Grand Ronde Tribe the reputation that it has as a philanthropist and supporter of our neighbors and community members. The fifteen honorees were:
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On Monday July 16, 2007 the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund hosted a Tribal Funders meeting in Lincoln City, Oregon. Those attending were:
Kelly Ellis, Director, Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund
Kathie Olson, Executive Director, Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Reservation
Ken Gordon, Executive Director, The Potlatch Foundation
Shelley Hanson, Director, Spirit Mountain Community Fund
Louis King, Program Officer, Spirit Mountain Community Fund
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Spirit Mountain Community Fund is delighted to announce that Rebecca Knight, a recent graduate of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon has been selected to become the 2007/2008 Hatfield Fellow. Ms. Knight was among several highly qualified and motivated candidates vying for the prestigious opportunity.
Ms. Knight is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and has participated in many leadership activities in her community and while attending college.
The Hatfield Fellowship was created in 1998, in honor and recognition of Senator Mark O. Hatfield's public service to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Each year Spirit Mountain Community Fund endeavors to place the Hatfield Fellow with those in Washington, D.C. who represent the Pacific Northwest and those Federally recognized Tribes within the region. Past fellows have successfully served in seval congressional offices over the years to include: Congressman/Representatives Ron Wyden, Gordon Smith, David Wu, Darlene Hooley, Earl Blumenauer, and Greg Walden. Additional information about the Hatfield Fellowship is provided on our website.
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Please join us as we focus on the new Spirit Mountain Community Fund electronic grant application process. We will share with you what we are looking for in each document of the application that are required, and walk through the online process. The next meeting will be Thursday, October 4, 2007 from 2:00 - 4:00pm at Chemawa Indian School in Salem.
Please RSVP via email to kluane.baer@grandronde.org no later than October 1, 2007. Please include your name, organization name, and your email address. The cost for the meeting is free but you must RSVP to ensure a seat. Seating is limited.
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Spirit Mountain Community Fund (SMCF) Staff presented a $39,000 gift to Oregon Voices United (OVU) located in Hillsboro, Oregon to support their new Filial Therapy Project. This is the first year of an innovative therapy program designed to support adults who have been released from incarceration and are now reuniting with their children and family. The Filial Therapy model is a research-based approach that has been successful in several communities throughout the United States. SMCF is pleased to support the Oregon Voices United a non-profit organization that provides outreach to victims of domestic violence. The new Filial Therapy Project will provide criticalservices to a unique and underserved population within the Hillsboro community.
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On January 25th & 26th, 2007 the Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees convened their regularly scheduled quarterly meeting in Portland, Oregon to consider some 45 grant applications. The Board reviewed applications that represented over $2.5 million in grant requests. Subsequently the Board awarded 27 grants ranging from $5,000 to $100,000 and made awards exceeding slightly over $1.2 million. The categories and amount of grant awards included; Arts & Culture, $150,000.00, Education $501,265.00, Environmental Preservation $95,959.00, Health $256,191.00, and Public Safety $20,000.00.
The second day of the Board’s agenda, hosted at Ecotrust™ in Portland, included the second presentation in a series of planned convening’s aimed at gaining a better understanding of the depth and breath of important community concerns and issues. This second convening focused on Native Americans and Ecotrust™ staffers Craig Jacobsen and Liz Woody facilitated the panel discussions. Presenting panelist and topic included Don Ivy (Coquille Tribe) – Historic Preservation, Robert Kentta (Siletz Tribe) – Arts and Culture, and Jackie Grant (Grand Ronde Tribe) – Education.
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Launch of Spirit Mountain Community Fund’s online application system
Have you ever wished that you could submit your application to us electronically? Good news! You can! This February, Spirit Mountain Community Fund is launching our new online application system. You’ll see a link on our “How to Apply” page on our website. You will use the link to launch our online Letter of Inquiry. Once you’ve submitted the letter (and yes, you can save it and come back to complete it), you will later receive a link from us that allows you access to our full application.
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For all the kids out there that are afraid of the dark, there’s a new venue in town at the Portland Children’s Museum. The venue, called the Dorothea Lensch Play It Again Theater, is “the stage that never goes dark.”
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Spirit Mountain Community FundRecognized in Nation-wide Photo Contest
Grand Ronde, OR --- The Spirit Mountain Community Fund (SMCF) announces that their entry into the National Indian Gaming Association’s (NIGA) recent “Benefits of Indian Gaming” photo contest was among those receiving recognition.
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Please join us as we focus on the new Spirit Mountain Community Fund electronic grant application process. We will share with you what we are looking for in each section of the narrative portion of the application and walk through the online process.
The cost for the meeting is free, but you must RSVP to ensure a seat. Seating is limited. RSVP to kluane.baer@grandronde.org. Please include your name, organization name, and your email address.
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Spirit Mountain Community Fund and the Tribe would like to take this opportunity to introduce Dennis Worden, this year’s Hatfield Fellow. Worden has been chosen to work with and represent the Oregon Congressional delegation in Washington D.C. through a program called the Hatfield Fellowship. The program is funded by Spirit Mountain Community Fund through the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and was created in 1998 as a remembrance of the contributions made by Mark O. Hatfield, former Governor of Oregon and United States Senator.
The fellowship offers a unique opportunity for the chosen fellow to move to D.C. for nine months and work directly in an office of Congress, gaining knowledge about the legislative processes at the congressional level.
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