Making STEM Accessible

Monday, Apr. 25, 2022

Without the help of volunteers, some tasks feel impossible to tackle. Our team at Early Learning Multnomah has been working tirelessly to put together Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) kits for eight culturally specific communities in six languages to be received by kids in our area. The task of putting the kits together can be daunting alone, but thanks to our friends who came and volunteered from WaFd Bank, we were able to tackle it together!

Destigmatizing Mental Health in the Latino Community

Monday, Mar. 28, 2022

Mental health is wholly intertwined with community health, an aspect that the traditional, reactionary approach to mental health care doesn’t understand. Preventative, holistic, liberating, destigmatized and culturally specific mental health care is hard to find, not responsive to the cultural values of the community and expensive. Our partner organization, Raíces de Bienestar, is working to address that in our region. Founders Dr.

Healing in a Like-Minded Space

Thursday, Mar. 24, 2022

My name is Veyda, and I am an AmeriCorps member in the Confluence Environmental Program working as a Disaster Resilience Coordinator for United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. I was brought in to help with many projects in the organization’s Disaster Resilience team, but the one I was the most excited to help with was the Disaster Resilience Learning Collaborative (DRLC). The DRLC is an amazing space created by United Way, Oregon Health Authority and Trauma-Informed Oregon.

Fight For the Right to Stay Housed

Thursday, Mar. 17, 2022

United Way of the Columbia-Willamette ended 2021 with a $200,000 investment in the Eviction Defense Program, with the hopes of building resiliency and renters’ rights through the Oregon Law Center. These funds help expand Oregon Law Center’s capacity to recruit lawyers who reflect the communities they serve, offer Black, Indigenous and People of Color access to multilingual eviction defense and provide financial assistance to renters in arrears.

Highlighting Indigenous Impact

Monday, Feb. 28, 2022

There can be an unnerving sense of invisibility experienced by cultures that do not dominate the norm. This is especially true for pueblos originarios, peoples who have lived the longest in a place, but have been pushed to the margins by systems that exploit their lived knowledge.

Demystifying our Disenfranchising Tax Code

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022

One of the most effective ways to combat wealth disparities is simplifying our convoluted tax code. That is no easy task for any non-profit, no matter the size. However, providing free tax assistance and accounting advice to those who don’t have it readily available is something anyone can do!

Building Community, One Bite at a Time

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022

Hunger is not an insoluble, nor an isolated, issue. This ethos drives the work of Clackamas Service Center, a non-profit based in Clackamas County providing community, food, hygiene and resilience to families and individuals seeking it. The 501(c)3 founded in 1973 has served as a vital community hub for low- and no-income Portlanders and is currently the largest food pantry in the county. They embody their core values in the work they do, providing trauma-informed care and centering the inherent dignity of those they walk alongside.

Building Trusting Relationships and Collective Healing in a Time of Disaster

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022

Resilience requires constant contributions and care. Fostering a stronger, tighter-knit community does not happen with a single instance of support, but instead this type of resilience blossoms from continual introspection, interest and investment. That’s why United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, Oregon Health Authority, and Trauma Informed Oregon envisioned and put into action the Disaster Resilience Learning Collaborative.

Dialing In Distress

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022

In an increasingly digital world, picking up your phone and calling an information line seems horribly outdated. However, a service such as 211Info – the free, confidential and life-saving call-line supported by United Way throughout the country – is still one of the most reliable and prompt ways of getting help from knowledgeable experts on a variety of issues in several languages.

Wildfire Response and Recovery Fund: Impact Summary

Monday, Mar. 8, 2021
In September 2020, Way of the Columbia-Willamette (UWCW) launched a Wildfire Response and Recovery Fund, to help families suffering devastating loss caused by the wildfires in our region. In times of disasters, we’ve heard from our nonprofit partners on the ground that vulnerable communities, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities are disproportionately affected.

Building Brighter Futures Through Childcare

Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021
Like so many families across our region, Tracy and Jeremy existed in a gray area where they made just enough to be disqualified from many safety net programs, but not enough to be able to pay for all their basic needs like rent, healthcare and especially childcare.