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Community Service Impact
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Article Content  |
| Overview |
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Communities across Oregon have seen improvements through the help of Recovery Act funding. It is more important than ever to strengthen communities during these difficult economic times. Oregon received about $50 million to support communities through AmeriCorps members put to work at rural food banks and infrastructure improvements to provide safe drinking water for generations.
A couple examples of community services funding opportunities include:
- Almost $10 million in block grant funding for community projects across the state.
- A little over $300,000 for arts organizations through the National Endowment for the Arts.
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| Projects |
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AmeriCorps Community Service Programs – Three existing AmeriCorps programs were awarded $773,075 in Recovery Act funds. AmeriCorps members serve with community action agencies, rural food banks through the RARE program at University of Oregon, and Impact NW in Multnomah County.
Broadband Mapping – The Recovery Act authorized $7.2 billion in funding to expand broadband access capabilities throughout the country, with special consideration for rural and other unserved and underserved areas. The funding is helping enhance broadband capacity at public computer centers and encouraging sustainable adoption of broadband service. The state of Oregon, through its Public Utility Commission, was awarded $5.7 million in nationally competitive grants to create an interactive map of broadband access as well as to promote broadband planning and development across the state.
Community Service Block Grant – This program has received nearly $8 million to provide services addressing employment, education, better use of available income, housing, nutrition, emergency services and health to combat the central causes of poverty. A total of roughly 480,000 individuals across the state were served by this program.
Community Development – Through funding from this grant a senior citizens’ center has been constructed in the City of Silverton, the Hebo Water Authority in Tillamook County has a new drinking water reservoir, and the wastewater system for the City of Haines is being drastically improved.
Elderly Employment – The Recovery Act allowed the U.S. Department of Labor to allocate additional funds to the Senior Community Service Employment Program. These additional funds were used in Oregon to help persons with low incomes 55 years of age or older improve their employment prospects by providing job skills training and minimum wage jobs while they gain job experience.
Emergency Food Assistance – This program provides emergency food to low-income Oregonians and administrative funds are used to provide storage, transportation and distribution of commodity foods. USDA commodity foods are distributed through the Oregon Food Bank Network. Recovery Act funds helped to distribute an additional $1 million in food to low-income Oregonians.
Safe Drinking Water – Oregon was awarded $28.5 million for the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to finance infrastructure improvements. The program emphasizes providing funds to small and disadvantaged communities and encourages pollution prevention.
National Endowment for the Arts – This program received $307,600 for arts organizations to support the nonprofit arts sector of the economy. Recipients included the Museum of Contemporary Craft (Portland), Neskowin Coast Foundation (Otis), Southern Oregon Film Society (Ashland), and The Arts Center (Corvallis). |
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| Project Categories |
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To learn more about projects near you, take a look at our Tracking the Dollars map to select specific projects or select one of the categories below to learn more about the types of projects funded. Projects can be divided specifically by the following categories:
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