Portland Non-profits

We are distracted and amazed by the relentless campaigns to silence, disenfranchise, impoverish or marginalize most of us to assure the lavish comfort and gated security of a precious few of us.  But there are other stories out there.  Portland, Oregon is probably unremarkable in its active, mostly invisible, community of non-profit organizations of people who are trying to help.

The Southwest Community Health Center, in their own words, is a safety-net-clinic providing basic health care to low-income uninsured individuals. They solicit donations.  They write grants.  An anonymous donor recently provided a matching challenge grant of $20000.  Last year, SWCHC provided 1711 patient visits to 812 unduplicated uninsured individuals.  You don’t have to scratch very deep to understand their effect on people’s lives.  Here is an on-line review from a client:

I've been living the under-payed uninsured lifestyle basically, since, forever. I had OHP or private insurance through my mom for periods of time as a child, but once I turned 18 was SOL (hopefully the new reforms about keeping dependent adult-children on family plans will stick around). 

For people like me, the Coalition Clinics are life-savers. SWCHC is a part of the Coalition Clinic Network. They provide medical treatment to people who don't have money or health insurance to see a regular doctor and need to manage chronic or even acute health problems. It can take a few weeks to get an appointment, but if you do, it's a blessing. They take payment on a sliding scale, and if you make under $800 a month they only ask for $5. I've been examined after injuries, had a physical and got an order for routine blood work (which is covered when they refer you) to manage a few health concerns I needed to keep on top of.

The clinic is staffed by volunteer doctors and medical interns from all the local medical groups (like OHSU, Providence, etc). Your doctor will vary from visit to visit. Services that are provided can vary based on what group is volunteering that month. I saw a few different doctors while I was going here, and each of them were friendly, professional and, most of all, compassionate.

Ethos Music Center was conceived in response to relentless cuts over the years to music and arts education in Oregon.  The vision is hardly revolutionary – per Wikipedia, the Greeks used this word to refer to the power of music to influence its hearer's emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Ethos is a startlingly effective non-profit founded in 1998. They are headquartered in an underserved area of Portland targeted by other non-profits as well.  Ethos is all about making music lessons accessible and they are available in a multiplicity of configurations – private, group, full-priced (low), on a sliding-scale, subsidized by scholarship or, in the public schools but paid for by AmeriCorps; formats comprise “music lessons, multicultural performances and workshops to more than 7,000 students a year” for many on free or reduced price lunches.

In addition to its Urban Outreach Program there is the Ethos Rural Outreach Program.  For example, through Ethos outreach, the tiny communities of Metolious, Madras and Warm Springs in Central Oregon each have a whole fte, college-trained music teacher in their elementary schools.  The individual districts have no budgets for music.  The programs are supported through a miracle patchwork of federal programs, grants and community in-kind participation.

It’s nice to know that human nature can force a dandelion through the cracks no matter how thick the layers of asphalt.