Milwaukie reopens Community Events Fund application period; two projects already selected

Dan Harris, Milwaukie events and emergency management coordinator, told the council the Milwaukie Community Events Fund is still accepting applications and that, for the current pilot year, the application deadline has shifted from Jan. 31 to Feb. 28 so staff and the equity steering committee can better advertise the program.

Harris said the fund is designed to distribute approximately $8,000 in flexible awards selected by the city’s equity steering committee. He told the council the first round of awards went out last fall and named two recipients: VITA 33, which staged a Día de los Muertos celebration in early November, and Spoken Word Books, which is organizing a series of three reading-and-discussion events focused on immigrant, Indigenous and disability communities.

Harris said staff plan to review the current applications at the March meeting of the equity steering committee and issue awards afterward. He said the fund was created after retirement of a prior city event (Carefree Sunday) to support neighborhood-based programming that celebrates Milwaukie’s diversity.

Council members asked about whether recipients must hold events that are free and open to the public; staff confirmed award criteria require funded events to be open and free. Harris and councilors discussed existing neighborhood district association funds that also support local events and noted those associations sometimes act as informal grantmakers for local projects. Harris said the city receives a modest biennial events budget (about $80,000) that is used for various supports across city events.