Rise Up! Community
Enhancement Grants

Learn more about our exciting new partnership with Metro and determine if your organization is a good fit to apply for a grant.

We are proud to work with Metro to offer Rise Up! Community Enhancement Grants beginning in 2024. 

This program is part of Metro’s  regional program  to enhance communities surrounding the region’s nine waste transfer facilities. Funding for the grants comes from fees collected at the transfer stations. 

These grants are available to non-profits, schools, and local governments who provide services or implement programs within the Rise Up! grant boundary area , which includes the cities of Troutdale, Fairview, and Wood Village.

Projects that support underserved populations, improve neighborhood livability and safety, improve nonprofit facilities, and improve natural areas and the environment can be awarded these funds.

Answers to commonly asked questions, eligibility requirements, and more are in the grant handbook.

About
the
Grant
Process

About the Grant Process

TIMELINE

November 17, 2023

  • Applications submitted via Google Forms
  • Grant application period opens.

December 7, 2023, 4pm – 5pm

    • Optional info session via Zoom . (Registration not required)

January 25, 2024, 5:00pm

March 13, 2024

    • Selection Committee meets to discuss applications. This is a public meeting, please RSVP. Click here for details

April 5, 2024

    • Selection Committee meets to discuss applications. This is a public meeting, please RSVP. Click here for details.

April 2024

    • Grant awards announced; contracts developed

July 2024

    • Rise Up grant funds available

June 30, 2025

    • Projects completed (unless timeline extension approved)

PROGRAM GOALS​

All proposed grant projects shall meet one or more of the following goals:

  • Provide programs, training or services that benefit youth, seniors, low income people, people of color, veterans or other underserved populations

  • Increase reuse, recycling and waste prevention opportunities

  • Improve the environmental quality of the area

  • Reduce the amount or toxicity of waste

  • Preserve or enhance wildlife and natural areas within the target area

  • Improve or increase recreation opportunities for residents in the target area

  • Rehabilitate and upgrade property owned or operated by non-profits

  • Improve the safety, appearance or cleanliness of neighborhoods

  • Foster community enrichment through educational programming and arts and cultural projects

Grant selections will be made by a committee of members who represent the communities of Troutdale, Wood Village and Fairview and the elected Metro Councilor for District 1:

  • Councilor Ashton Simpson
    • Metro Councilor Ashton Simpson is a proud East County resident, nonprofit executive, community activist and advocate, veteran, father, Portland State University alum and a committed public servant. Councilor Simpson represents District 1, which includes Fairview, Gresham, Wood Village, Troutdale, portions of East Portland, and the unincorporated communities of Damascus and Boring.
  • Se-ah-dom Edmo
    • Se-ah-dom (Shoshone-Bannock, Nez Perce and Yakama) brings deep experience in community organizing for racial and social justice work across the nation and currently serves as the Executive Director of Seeding Justice. Se-ah-dom’s ancestors are from Celilo, a fishing village along the Columbia River and one of the oldest known settlements in the West. Her children attend school in Troutdale. 

  • Mabelline Galindo
    • Mabelline is a lifelong resident of the city of Fairview and first-generation Latina college student. Mayballine is serving on the committee to play a role in supporting underserved groups, improving the quality of life for the surrounding neighborhoods, and sustaining the environment and natural areas.
  • Michael Reyes
    • Michael has lived in Troutdale for nearly seven years and has children in the Reynolds School District and serves as a Reynolds School District Board member. Michael works as a senior program officer for a regional foundation and also an all-ages taekwondo class at the Wood Village Baptist Church in partnership with PlayEast.
  • Cayle Tern
    • Cayle is a leader in the Iu Mien and Asian American community in Fairview, Wood Village, and Troutdale and serves on the Reynolds School District Board. Cayle has worked for the Department of Human Services helping families experiencing poverty and currently works with community-based organizations advocating for immigrant rights and marginalized families.

RISE UP!
Community
Selection
Committee

RISE UP! Community
Selection Committee

Ready to Apply?

The 2024 grant cycle will fund up to $150,000. Individual grant award sizes will range between $2,500 – $20,000. The committee is particularly interested in projects that serve youth, seniors, low income persons, veterans or other underserved communities and also meet another goal.

2024 Rise Up Community
Enhancement Grant Awards

Funded by a $1 fee on each ton of waste processed at the Troutdale Transfer Station in Northeast Portland, this grant program benefits Troutdale, Wood Village and Fairview communitites. A committee of local residents and a Metro Councilor review applications and select projects to fund. The Community Rise Up Enhancement Committee approved funding for eleven projects in the 2024 grant cycle, awarding a total of $152,050.

Boxes of Love Project: $10,000

  • This project partners with local hospitals to provide infants and children transitioning into foster care with a tote filled with new clothing, pajamas, shoes, toys, books, toiletries, formula, and other comfort items.

Cascadia Arts Association: $7,500

  • The Music at the Market event is a Farmers market on the Historic Columbia River Highway that highlights live music. This event will take place on Tuesdays in the months of July and August.

City of Wood Village: $20,000

  • This project will remove invasive species and restore native plantings in a 4.7-acre wetland area as the first step in creating a new wetland park.

Columbia Slough Watershed Council: $11,440

  • This project will implement educational habitat restoration and a native garden project at Woodland Elementary School in Fairview.

Corbett Fire District: $9,212

  • This project will provide free life jackets and bilingual water safety information at 5 popular recreation areas along the Sandy River in Troutdale and Corbett.

Eastside Timbers: $7,675

  • This project will provide free recreational soccer at school and park fields in the boundary area and at the Eastside Timbers Soccer Complex. The project will also provide one season of free soccer for 50 players.

Free Arts NW: $15,823

  • This is a youth led community beautification project in Fairview. This project will support youth from the community to steer the design and implementation of an art installation through a stipend-based leadership program.

Hmong American Community of Oregon: $20,000

  • This project supports the preservation of Hmong culture and tradition through dance. Project funding will support practice space, traditional performance wear and materials for this program.

Next Up: $15,000

  • Funding will support a youth leadership academy and year-round youth action team to gain education and experience on social justice issues.

Sistas Empowerment: $20,000

  • This program provides educational arts and cultural projects, community park workshops and musical events that benefit underserved communities.

Trash for Peace: $15,400

  • This project will support youth after-school activities focused on sustainability at Fairview Oaks housing. This project includes litter collection and a youth garden. Funding will also support stipends for 2 youth teens to support with the program design.