Welcome to the recap of the Allocation Committee meeting on Dec. 13, 2022.

Hunger relief grantee partners share reflections

Ally Meyer from the Oregon Food Bank (bottom right) speaks to the Allocation Committee about their school-based pantries funded by PCL.

Staff from 3 PCL grantee partners in hunger relief programs reflected on service delivery. Many thanks to the following guests and organizations for taking the time to share about their programs:

  • Jessica Morris, Meals 4 Kids
  • Ally Meyer, Oregon Food Bank
  • Amoreena Guerrero, Growing Gardens

Community Council membership

Bottom right: PCL Community Engagement Coordinator Racheal Nakhabala (left) and Grant Manager Arika Bridgeman-Bunyoli share an update on Community Council membership.

PCL staff members provided an overview of the second phase of recruitment for the Community Council, including the volunteer application process and the ad-hoc committee’s recommendations for member appointments.

The Allocation Committee approved the recommendation to appoint five applicants to the Community Council: Lolita Broadous, Cindy Amarachi Duru, Jami K. LeBaron, Alix Sanchez and Lisa J. Wittorff.

The new appointees join 7 members appointed in the summer: Karina Bjork, Alejandra Favela, Kamla Hurst, Diana Lee, Stephen Pham, Amy Ramos and LaNae Williams. The newly formed Community Council will start meeting early next year

Grant performance summary process

PCL staff are compiling individual grant performance summaries for grantee partners for 2021-22. The summaries will include information on grant agreement goals and whether grantees exceeded, met or didn’t meet the goals, in addition to other data.

The summaries will provide a way for staff and the Allocation Committee to understand what program delivery looked like compared to goals in a year when lockdown ended, but the impacts of the pandemic continued. The flexibility provision in grant agreements remained in effect for the full 2021-22 year.

The summaries will be completed and sent to grantee partners before Dec. 31, and then provided to Allocation Committee members after grantees have time to add comments.

Large grant renewal process, timeline

Current 3-year, large grants end June 30, 2023. PCL staff plans to contact grantee partners in early 2023 to confirm their interest in a potential renewal. The process is noncompetitive, does not require an application, and allows programs that are on track with performance to receive funding for a full 5-year levy period.

PCL expects sufficient revenues for 2-year grant renewals at a similar level of funding. Based on current data, it’s likely there would be sufficient funds to support cost-of-living adjustments for grantee partners.

At its next meeting in February 2023, the Allocation Committee will review the updated revenue projections expected in January and confirm the timeline for the renewal process. The goal is for the committee to make renewal decisions at its April 2023 meeting.

Funding for the second year of the 2-year grant renewals would depend on voter renewal of the levy before the current levy ends June 30, 2024.

Miss Tuesday’s meeting?

Watch it on YouTube or on CityNet Xfinity Channel 30 and 330 (HD) Dec. 16 at 9 a.m. or Dec. 23 at 5:30 p.m. You can also view the meeting slide deck.

Join us for the next Allocation Committee meeting

Our next meeting will be in February 2023. Agendas will be sent to this email list, shared on our social media channels and posted on portlandchildrenslevy.org.

We welcome your comment on agenda items or the work of the Portland Children’s Levy. If you would like to join the next meeting to participate, please join our email list and stay tuned for the meeting invite.