"In early June, after organizations like HOLLA had been notified of their selection to receive grants from the Portland Children's Levy (PCL), the Portland City Council made an unprecedented decision: voting to reject $70.9 million in grants the PCL allocation committee had awarded for the coming fiscal year and instead extending funding to the program's current large grantees for another year."
"The Children's Levy is a lifeline for BIPOC organizations as federal leaders strip funding for equity initiatives. The City Council's decision sparked a ferocious backlash from organizations who were counting on the money and didn't understand why the Council was suddenly taking issue with the way the grants had been awarded at the end of an arduous application process. Then, three weeks later, the Council changed its mind-voting unanimously to reverse its original vote and approve the $71 million PCL funding package."
"In late September, the East Portland-based youth mentorship program HOLLA got a much-needed financial boost when it received its first grant disbursement from the Portland Children's Levy. "They paused everything to really self-correct, and I was thankful for that, how that all went down-because we weren't expecting that," Eric Knox, executive director of HOLLA, said. "I just thought we were going to go in there with our signs and make a lot of noise and put a little bit of pressure on them.""
In early June the Portland City Council voted to reject $70.9 million in Portland Children's Levy grants that had been awarded by the levy allocation committee, choosing instead to extend funding to current large grantees for another year. The decision prompted fierce backlash from nonprofits, especially BIPOC organizations that rely on PCL funds after federal funding cuts. Three weeks later the Council unanimously reversed its decision and approved the $71 million funding package. In late September HOLLA received its first disbursement. The episode highlighted nonprofit vulnerability, the importance of PCL for equity work, and lingering questions about future levy procedures.
Read at Portland Mercury
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