In the 11th year of Grady Britton’s annual grant, we selected two local nonprofits to receive $25,000 in-kind marketing and branding expertise and 150 volunteer hours. MESO is this year’s marketing grant winner, and Brown Hope is this year’s volunteer grant winner! Given the incredible organization we had the chance to speak with, we also want to recognize a few other candidates for this year’s grants, one of which is Equitable Giving Circle.
Equitable Giving Circle started in March 2020, in response to the murder of George Floyd and the ongoing Black Lives Matter civil rights movement. The organization’s vision is to create easily accessible and equity-building opportunities across Portland’s Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. EGC aims to achieve this by combining network building opportunities and fund development, both revolving around economic equity.
Through community engagement they have found the most integral issues to address through their projects in order to see immediate change. Since their start, Equitable Giving Circle has consistently served 3,000 people per week through their CSA program, partnered with 50 local businesses and organizations to support the BIPOC community and has paid over $200,000 to 50 different households to assist with rent. They’ve also raised more than $1.3 million, with every penny going toward accomplishing these goals.
Equitable assistance for both stable housing and food security through their Community Supported Agriculture and Housing Stability projects is a critical component of their work, too. Especially in recognition of gentrification within Portland. Through the interview process we learned more about the importance of this program, especially as it provides access to fresh, local produce — unfortunately not always common through food-assistance programs.
We wish we could have chosen more winners for our grant (as we do every year), but we encourage Portlanders and beyond to look into Equitable Giving Circle and how you can help. There are many ways to donate and give time.
Read about our other 2021 grant candidates: Stone Soup, Impact NW and Portland Fruit Tree Project!
Feature photo courtesy of Equitable Giving Circle.