Community Articles

Last month, we celebrated Child Abuse Prevention Month — a powerful reminder of our shared responsibility to keep kids safe, especially in rural communities across Oregon where resources can be limited and families face unique challenges.

Launched in 2021, GRO currently supports four rural communities to build a network — a community ecosystem — that wraps around in support of local entrepreneurs. Find inspiration for ways to support small business in your community from these standout examples.

There is little chance now that Black settler Letitia Carson’s story will recede from memory. Her story is one of resilience, persistence and triumph. One of Carson’s most memorable claims to history is as an early Black homesteader in two Oregon locations.

Richard Reeves, author of “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It”, talked about declining male enrollment and other complex and concerning trends before a packed auditorium at Umpqua Community College.

Lindsey Frazier and Emily Harger of A Home Away from Home, a licensed child care center in Douglas County, took time to review our SelectBooks children’s collection.

Like many of her friends in the Butte Valley area of northern California, Adriana Ramirez used to spend her summers indoors, taking care of her siblings while her hardworking parents spent long days doing farm work.

An issue brief on the state of child care in Oregon comes to a conclusion that will not be a surprise to working families with children: Child care services are expensive and hard to find.

Research from Oregon Voices elevates perspectives from across the state on how the lack of living wage jobs and economic opportunity impacts Oregonians’ financial well-being. These concerns came charged with solutions to address the state’s growing wealth inequality.

Over nearly a decade, The Ford Family Foundation has supported a growing movement to coordinate home visiting systems in Oregon. We are now at a pivotal moment.

Discover the inspiring journey of Iván Galicia Sixto, a Linfield University student and Ford Scholar class of 2020, who find his home in teaching language.

When it comes to health care in Oregon, location is everything. That was the overwhelming takeaway from the Oregon Voices survey, which asked residents from across the state for their personal experiences with a variety of critical issues.

SelectBooks offers two-book bundle during Child Abuse Prevention Month. These books, “My Body Belongs to Me” and the accompanying parent’s guide, address boundaries, safety and consent.

The first research brief from the Oregon Voices survey highlights the housing issue in the words of the people who are living through it.

Join us on February 2, 2024 from 12-1:00PST for a Q&A with the authors of a recent article on rural community building.

Prior to forming A Greater Applegate, the area’s leading community building organization, the complicated overlap of geography and government agencies challenged residents’ sense of a shared identity and made advocating for their needs difficult.

Over the course of ten years, Yoncalla School District leaders and community members, especially parents of young children, have walked side-by-side reinventing the elementary school’s approach to family and child support.

Nestled on the western slopes of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, east of the ridge that separates Highway 203 from North Powder, five students and two local ranchers plot their morning’s work.

In the wake of 2020’s devastating Slater Fire, a group of leaders in Happy Camp, California and the Karuk Tribe rallied to fill a critical void in their community: child care.

In 1971, a group of concerned residents in Hood River identified a need for a residential treatment facility for troubled youth. They launched The Next Door out of a rented farmhouse, offering treatment and beds to 10 youth.

Almost two years ago, the Almeda Fire engulfed over 2,500 homes in a community already struggling with a dire shortage of affordable housing units.

 “The Ford Institute Leadership Program’s vision of community vitality and building capacity has been realized in amazing ways in many communities,” explains Mary Ward from her Southern Oregon home.

In 2016, Mario Jimenez Sifuentez published ‘Of Forests and Fields: Mexican Labor in the Pacific Northwest.’ His book shares the story of Mexican immigrants who, out of view of most Oregonians, became the foundation of our agriculture economy.

As the French Creek fire burned in the night outside of Glide on Sept. 7, Abigail Malek posted to social media: “If you have friends out there, check with them to see if they need any help.”

When it comes to keeping the most vulnerable residents safe and healthy, the actions of community leaders throughout Oregon demonstrate that community building and public health create a powerful combination. 

Bilingual public education, traffic safety and a vision for more inclusive, united communities motivated residents in Molalla to get involved. The path to creating the change they wanted?

Welcome to the issue archive for Community Vitality, a storytelling publication published by The Ford Family Foundation from 2000 through 2021.