Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Awards $250,000 Challenge Grant to Peninsula Children's Center

PORTLAND, Ore.-- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded Peninsula Children's Center, a North Portland nonprofit child care center serving primarily low- and limited-income families, a $250,000 challenge grant. The $500,000 goal of the challenge grant campaign is to retire the organization's mortgage, making available for programs and services the $50,000 annually paid in mortgage and interest payments.

"The support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation comes at a remarkable juncture in our 30-year history of serving the North/Northeast Portland community with quality, affordable child care," says Peninsula Executive Director Marcia Mulvey. "Due to the tremendous support of the foundation we will soon own our building outright, freeing up significant funds for our programs for children and families."

Mulvey continues, "The foundation's support, combined with a three-year capacity building grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust, provides us with the resources necessary to undergo significant capacity building and organizational development -- with the ultimate goal of increasing and enhancing our programs and services, in turn strengthening our 30-year commitment to the community."

With major support from the North Portland Enhancement Committee and the Portland Development Commission, Peninsula Children's Center has raised $233,000 of the $250,000 necessary to meet the foundation's challenge grant. Funding for the challenge grant has come from a variety of sources, including:

Metro's North Portland Enhancement Fund - $100,000

Portland Development Commission - $77,000

Sisters of Charity (OH) - $27,355

Clark Foundation - $7,500

Sisters of Charity, BVM (IA) - $5,000

Jackson Foundation - $2,500

Johnson Foundation - $2,000

Sandra & Dr. William Bennett - $2,000

Sisters of Loretto (CO) - $2,000

Harder Mechanical - $500

Purdy Corporation - $500

UPS Foundation - $100

In addition, individual supporters of Peninsula Children's Center contributed more than $6,000 toward the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's challenge grant, which, as Executive Director Mulvey points out, is remarkable: "Peninsula is not a membership organization and we really don't have the sort of constituency that can substantially contribute financially. This show of support from individuals goes to show just how much our community values Peninsula Children's Center and our programs and services."

About Peninsula Children's Center

To provide high-quality, affordable child care and family support programs that contribute to the livability of North and Northeast Portland.

Founded in 1970, Peninsula Children's Center is a nonprofit child care agency serving primarily low- and limited-income families in North and Northeast Portland. Certified by the Oregon Child Care Division, Peninsula provides a full range of child care services for children ages six-weeks to 12-years-old. Our infant, toddler, preschool and before- and after-school programs serve 350+ children a year and are based in a state-of-the-art child care center, with two off-site locations for our before- and after-school programs. Peninsula Children's Center is the only North Portland child care center offering sliding-scale tuition based on family income; without the sliding-scale child care would not be affordable for many of its families. Further, Peninsula is the only North Portland child care provider with transportation for before- and after-school programs, a vital service for working families. In addition to quality child care, Peninsula is committed to helping its families connect with and navigate the other services and agencies available for assistance.