Giving Back

The Spirit Mountain Community Fund was created in 1997 as a way for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde to practice their age-old tribal tradition of giving back. Each year, the Fund distributes six percent of the profits from Spirit Mountain Casino to worthy projects and organizations in 11 western Oregon.

Since its inception, the Community Fund has helped support organizations working to improve education, health, public safety, historic and environmental preservation, the arts and culture. The grants have been large and small, but all have one focus: helping others help themselves.

Spirit Mountain Community Fund
Board of Trustees
Grants are awarded by a distinguished board of trustees, consisting of three Tribal Council members, an appointee of the Governor, a representative from Spirit Mountain Gaming, and three community leaders appointed by the Tribe.

Current board members include the Tribal council chairwoman, two council members, a state senator, a county commissioner, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon and two prominent businessmen.

Grant Applications
Grant applications may be submitted at any time and are reviewed on an ongoing basis. All inquiries and applications must be submitted in writing. To request a grant application packet, contact the Community Fund Administrator at 800-760-7977 or visit the Community Fund web site at www.thecommunityfund.com

Grants are awarded in the categories of arts and culture, historic preservation, public safety, health, education and environmental preservation.

Public Safety, Health and Emergency Services
Through large grants and small ones, the Community Fund has made a difference in the lives of Western Oregon’s most needy families. The Community Fund has supported a range of helping agencies—from regional services such as Life Flight and the Easter Seal Society to the Raphael House sheltered for abused women and children in Portland, Northwest Human Services in Salem and the Interfaith Caregivers in Albany.

The Community Fund continues to make major contributions to public safety services in Polk and Yamhill counties, especially in the Highway 18 corridor. Whether groups are providing clothing for children, transportation for elderly shut-ins or food baskets for the hungry, helping agencies know they have a trusted partner in the Community Fund.

Education
Education is a key value of the Community Fund because it is an essential tool for turning lives around. The Community Fund has helped to bring the highly acclaimed SMART reading program to 27 elementary schools, for example, and has given thousands of children the chance to visit OMSI, the Oregon Zoo and the Oregon Coast Aquarium by underwriting the cost of class field trips. The Community Fund has stepped in to bring music and the arts back to schools by funding concerts and school performances. And because learning never stops, the Community Fund has helped support college and university programs and local libraries.

Arts, Culture & Historic Preservation
The Community Fund is dedicated to finding creative ways to make other cultures more accessible and understandable. Recent grants have helped the Classical Chinese Garden Trust build an urban garden in Portland and supported Salem Art Association’s ceramics workshops for at-risk youths. We’re also working to build more understanding of Oregon’s native cultures by helping the Portland Art Museum, the Multnomah County Central Library and the Oregon History Center expand their Native American collections and exhibits. By creating more awareness of our shared history, we give something back to our communities and build the bonds that tie all Oregonians closer together.

Environmental Preservation
For hundreds of years, the spreading branches of the Signature Oak in The Oregon Garden in Silverton offered sanctuary for the native peoples who camped beneath it. We are helping to preserve and restore the 400-year-old oak and its surrounding grove as a reminder of the stewardship we owe to the natural world that sustains us. In that spirit, we also are working in partnership with businesses, private groups and public agencies to restore salmon and wildlife habitat along the Willamette River and its tributaries. We support the annual Oregon Coast cleanups and have helped underwrite education efforts aimed at helping all Oregonians better understand the environment we treasure.

Making A Difference
Following are some examples of how the Spirit Mountain Community Fund helps to turn things around for individuals and communities.

Raphael House: In Portland, the Community Fund joined with several other large donors—and hundreds of smaller ones—to provide an expanded domestic shelter for abused women. The project increases Raphael House’s capacity by 60 percent, allowing it to serve more than 500 women and their children each year. Raphael House also provides counseling and other assistance to help women find permanent housing, jobs and support networks so they can begin their lives again.

Oregon Children’s Foundation: Every year the Oregon Children’s Foundation through its SMART program helps disadvantaged children learn to read—and to love reading—by giving them free books and providing adult volunteers to read to them. The program is a national model for effective use of adult volunteers. In partnership with the Portland Trail Blazers, the Spirit Mountain Community Fund brought the SMART program to 27 schools, helping the Oregon Children's Foundation reach its goal of serving 10,000 children in 2000.

Community Outreach Inc.: Caring residents of Benton and Linn counties recognize the need to help the low-income elderly, and the indigent and their families—people who otherwise would fall through the cracks. Community Outreach has leveraged an exceptional number of community partnerships to provide its clients with medical and dental services, translation and immigration assistance, emergency homeless shelters, professional counseling and crisis intervention.

A Childs Place–Un Lugar Para Ninos: Encouraging children to embrace their own cultural heritage while learning the skills they need to succeed is a mission that resonates with Grand Ronde tribal members. This small preschool provides basic educational instruction and a head start for low-income children, many of whom are the sons and daughters of migrant workers. Instruction is done in both Spanish and English, with a sensitive approach that encourages children to enjoy their own and other cultures.

Team Up! For Watershed Health: Preserving Western Oregon’s rivers and valleys is an important focus of the Community Fund’s work. We are a major sponsor of Team Up! for Watershed Health, an innovative program that encourages voluntary partnerships among business, government and non-governmental groups to improve habitat for salmon and other wildlife, especially in the urban Portland area. Team Up! encourages Oregonians’ spirit of volunteerism