“I’m learning how I want to give money,” says Diana Velene. “I feel like ninety-nine girlfriends has been my philanthropy grad school.” Diana, a fourth-year member, has been active on a Grant Review Team and as a Grantee Partner Liaison as well as participating in as many member education events as possible.
“I’ve loved being part of big, audacious projects, but from Portland Homeless Family Solutions I learned that helping someone out of an immediate financial crisis can make all the difference for them,” Diana said via email.
Several years ago, Diana met Cameron Whitten on an Albina District walking tour. She found him to be “a bundle of energy and passion, and a devoted activist.” Today he’s a Metro Council candidate and co-founder (with Salome Chimuku) of the Black Resilience Fund (BRF), an emergency resource that raises funds from non-Black allies to support Black Portlanders. In a short few months since its inception, BRF has raised more than $1,362,040 from more than 14,000 donations and that figure continues to climb.
As of July 30, BRF had funded more than $713,469 in immediate support of Black Portlanders. The effort has particular resonance as each day and night throughout the city, diverse groups of Portland residents gather to consider the implications of racial inequities.
“So many people in our community are at that point where it doesn’t take much for them to be in a precarious financial position,” Diana explains. “Add losing a job because of the pandemic, the trauma that comes from a lifetime of racism boiling over into the events of the last month and you’ve got the perfect, horrible storm.”
Individuals contact the fund with a need, volunteers conduct a 15-minute interview, and more often than not, BRF gives them money to cover their need. As Diana points out, “It’s truly a grassroots effort to bring money quickly to the folks who need it now.”
— Tammy Wilhoite