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Grant success stories

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Find out about projects funded by Metro grant programs that are making a difference in communities throughout the region.

People in communities all over the Portland metropolitan area have generated innovative solutions to solve neighborhood problems, restore and preserve wildlife habitat and enhance quality of life. There's no shortage of opportunities to roll up your sleeves and get involved. Perhaps you have worked at a natural area removing litter and invasive species? Maybe your company sends employees to be "reading buddies" with kids at a local school?

Metro is proud to support hundreds of local projects - large and small - by awarding thousands of grant dollars every year. Metro looks for initiatives that reflect thoughtful research, help strengthen the community, involve residents and deliver results. Funds are given to nonprofits, businesses, schools, governments and others who want to make a difference.

Field trips to a working farm yield results

The Sauvie Island Center used grant funds to develop lessons that hundreds of North Portland schoolchildren learned in the fields at Sauvie Island Center about food, farming and the land. Fresh as leafy greens, crisp as carrots, and tasty as a turnip or radish, the lessons come to life in a take-home recipe book. Funded by the community enhancement grant program

Wintering-in Workdays refrain, "repair, prepare"

To help 23 seniors and disabled homeowners stay safely and independently in their homes, a team of volunteers from grant recipient REACH Community Development Corporation tripled the impact of donations by clearing yards of blackberries, cleaning gutters, building new porch steps and rails, and more. Funded by the Community enhancement grant program

Kids dig deep, plant roots in Lents restoration project

Ed Kearns of the Lents Springwater Corridor habitat restoration project used grant funds to plant 6,000 native trees and shrubs along a quarter-mile stretch of the Springwater Corridor with the help of hundreds of local youth and adult volunteers. To date, 300 cubic yards of concrete, gravel and asphalt have been removed and recycled from the former lumber mill site in outer Southeast Portland. Funded by the Nature in Neighborhoods restoration and enhancement grant program

Wise water and waste manager earns "big gulp" from efforts

An industrial manufacturer in Northwest Portland proves that economic vitality does not have to come at the expense of ecosystem health. Using grant funds to install nature-friendly designs, Owens Corning decreases average water use by 25 percent - that's 400 gallons of fresh water per production hour! Funded by the Nature in Neighborhoods restoration and enhancement grant program

Nadaka Nature Park comes into view

One of the best kept secrets in Gresham is now easier to find thanks to improved access to the park from bustling Northeast Glisan Street provided by a parcel acquired with grant funds by East Wilkes Neighborhood Association. The local hands-on activists now serve as the caring community that attends to the ongoing needs of this gem of a park. Funded by Nature in Neighborhoods capital grant program

It's the water ... and much, much more!

Rain-inspired art and nature-friendly landscape designs come to life in this Humboldt neighborhood outdoor classroom and living lab developed with funds awarded to the East Multnomah Water and Soil Conservation District. Residents and visitors to the North Portland demonstration site find a rain garden, cistern, porous pavement treatment and creative art for disconnected downspouts. Funded by the Nature in Neighborhoods capital grant program