Metro grant will help FoT deepen ties within our diverse communities

While the environmental restoration community in our region has made progress toward diversity, equity and inclusion, we feel there is still a long way to go.

Thanks to funding from Metro’s Nature in Neighborhoods program, Friends of Trees will join several other leading restoration organizations for a two-day retreat to help us serve an increasingly diverse ethnic, cultural and economic population in the Portland Metro Region.

Friends of Trees will join these other nonprofits at the retreat: the Johnson Creek Watershed Council, Columbia Slough Watershed Council, Tryon Creek Watershed Council, Forest Park Conservancy, Sandy River Watershed Council and North Clackamas Urban Watershed Council. Together, these groups reach more than 10,000 people each year through volunteering and outreach.

The $19,000 grant is helping fund a workshop led by the Center for the Diversity and the Environment. This formalized, supportive setting will provide training and tools to broaden our outreach efforts and cater programs to new and diverse communities. By participating in the retreat, Friends of Trees and the other partner groups will be empowered to lead equity, diversity and inclusion change process within own own organizations.

Thank you, Metro, for caring about these important issues and empowering Friends of Trees to be a leader in this effort.

This is one of two recent grants from Metro. The other is helping Friends of Trees more effectively reach diverse communities in North Portland.