At the start of each year, Rivermark Community Credit Union Community publishes its Community Impact Report to highlight the previous year’s focus and support of equitable housing, children’s health, and food insecurity.
While the pandemic continues to take an emotional, physical, and economic tolls on our local communities, 2021 has also offered moments of opportunity to learn from one another and to grow closer together, even while distanced.
We welcome you to reflect with us on those moments of collective progress, as we celebrate the importance of empathy, resiliency, and gratitude. There is much work yet to accomplish in fostering healthy, empowered, and inclusive communities for generations to come.
Thank you to all who contributed to our community efforts this year, whether by donating to our annual charitable drives, our equitable housing foundation, or by getting more involved with one of the nonprofit organizations we support. Your participation and generosity have made the following stories of positive impact possible.
Rivermark Community Fund Golf Tournament
Rivermark’s Community Fund Golf Tournament (our flagship fundraiser for housing security), returned in 2021 to the delight of our attendees and staff. Together, we raised a record $42,380 with all proceeds benefiting the Rivermark Community Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation.
Oregon Energy Fund
This year’s grant recipient from the Rivermark Community Fund of $20,000 was the Oregon Energy Fund, which provides energy bill assistance to income-qualifying households. This is a key component to regional housing stability, especially taking into account the need to adapt to more extreme weather conditions and stay warm through the winter. The donation will support households in Clackamas, Gilliam, Hood River, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Sherman, Wasco, Washington, Wheeler, and Yamhill counties.
Rebuilding Together
We continue to support our 2020 grant recipient, Rebuilding Together, by volunteering with them on project days in April and October. Rivermark staff, family, and board members helped with the home repairs. You can read more about the volunteer experience in our article, “Through Volunteer Eyes.”
Proud Ground
We also donated $5,000 to Proud Ground, a HUD-approved nonprofit that provides affordable home buying options and education throughout the process for working families in Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah, Lincoln, and Washington Counties. Using the Community Land Trust model, Proud Ground makes homeownership a reality not just for the first family but resale after resale, for generations to come.
My Fathers House
Our Gresham branch again sponsored an apartment at the nonprofit community shelter, My Father’s House, for a family who had been experiencing homelessness.
Clackamas Service Center
Meanwhile, our Happy Valley branch continues to support the Clackamas Service Center as a returning sponsor of their Harvesting Hope fundraiser. CSC’s mission is an inclusive "one-stop" community center for individuals and families seeking food relief and resources for improved health, dignity, and stability.
KGW Great Food Drive
Together we made 2021 a record year for the KGW Great Food Drive, raising over 4 million pounds of food! Rivermark staff participated internally through fundraising raffles of items donated by team members and friendly “co-opetitions” among departments. Externally, we funded public calls to action on TV, streaming services, social media, and through digital banking, encouraging all to support this important cause.
Stay tuned next March—the 2022 food drive is going local. To minimize delivery costs and streamline logistics, all food items donated at Rivermark branches will be delivered to each community’s local food bank. Previously, the donations were aggregated at the main OFB distribution centers in Beaverton and Portland to be sorted and sent out to area food pantries based on need. The pandemic has increased the need for food assistance significantly in all communities, so it will save time and valuable resources to omit the headquartered sorting and distribution process, getting groceries to our neighbors in need as quickly as possible.
Free Food Market
Free food markets are local pop-up pantries from the Oregon Food Bank that provide fresh produce and other culturally-relevant foods for folks who need it.
CU4Kids
We have continued fundraising collectively for our local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital through Credit Unions for Kids. This year, Rivermark teamed up with other local credit unions and KATU to raise over $318,000 for OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital!
UNCF Fundraiser
Rivermark partnered with the Young Credit Union Professionals of Portland to organize a virtual event that raised over $11,000 for the UNCF to support students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Designed to be both educational and inspirational, the event featured a bright HBCU student telling her story and a thought-provoking panel conversation that included President and CEO of the African American Credit Union Coalition, Renee Sattiewhite, Joy Alise Davis, Executive Director of Imagine Black, and Rivermark’s own Chief Lending Officer, Aben Hill.
MLK Dream Run
We also supported efforts in the community, including the MLK Jr Dream Run to support the NNEBA’s Fellows program and the Soul Business District Association.
OMSI Kits
It’s no surprise that the pandemic has made it harder to volunteer, but thanks to our friends at Hands On Greater Portland and OMSI, several of our staff volunteered from home to support students in Title 1 schools who were learning from home. Volunteers put together and decorated activity kits designed to develop their skills in S.T.E.A.M. (Science/Tech/Engineering/Arts/Math).
IRCO School Supply Drive
In August, Rivermark ran a school supplies drive for IRCO (the Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization) to give students new to Oregon a community-powered boost towards scholastic success. This year the greatest needs were backpacks, headphones for virtual classes, shoes, and clothes.
Other than Native American and Indigenous peoples, everyone has immigrated or has ancestors who immigrated here from other parts of the world, and our diversity has proven time and again to be one of the greatest strengths of the USA. Many families and individuals that IRCO supports have escaped dangerous situations abroad and left their homes bravely in search of a better future here. As a credit union, we welcome and support our new neighbors from across the globe with open arms, hearts, minds, and wallets whenever possible because every child deserves a fair chance to learn and grow.
Wahtonka Community School District
The Rivermark technology team worked together to round up more than 200 unused computers from the Rivermark admin buildings to donate them to the Wahtonka Community School District Admin. These computers were used in The Dalles middle schools providing youth with the technology required for academic learning.
Financial Empowerment Collaborative
As cooperative institutions, credit unions often work together with a shared purpose of serving our communities, creating more equitable access to financial services, credit, education, and in turn, greater financial inclusion.
One recent, homegrown example of this is an innovative new partnership formed this year by Rivermark, four other local CUs, the Northwest Credit Union Foundation, and the Urban League of Portland. What began with conversations about the real systemic injustices and racial oppression that has plagued Oregon’s history, paved the way for collaborative action and investment.
In March, the Urban League hosted a virtual Housing & Financial Empowerment Fair, with sessions taught by subject matter experts in the FEC, including Rivermark’s Community Development Manager, Hayley Andrews. The participating credit unions then took the next step to fund the hiring of a dedicated Financial Empowerment position at Urban League and a foundational structure for this cooperative pilot program to flourish.
The group established the Financial Empowerment Collaborative (FEC) to provide free financial education, one-on-one expert coaching, case management, and tailored resources to better fit the individual needs of Black Oregonians. In doing so, the FEC will foster tangible growth opportunities for participants on their path to financial empowerment, housing stability, and wealth creation.
Alejandra
- Role: Service Desk Assistant Manager AKA professional hot potato juggler
- Years of service at Rivermark? 5 years on January 9th!
- What’s something you really enjoy about working at Rivermark? I enjoy the openness at Rivermark, you can go to anyone and ask anything. It is such a great thing everyone is always super willing to share knowledge.
- What volunteer activities do you participate in the community? I volunteer with the Hillsboro Police Department as a Domestic Violence (DV) Advocate. I try to volunteer for open shifts as much as possible. As advocates, anytime there is a 911 call that is a DV incident, we respond once the scene is secure. We talk to victims about the many services that are available from something as simple as an emergency cellphone, gift cards for food and gas, contact information about restraining orders, information about making a safety plan if they plan on leaving the relationship, and so much more. I also sign up for being at farmers market events to give out helpful information.
- What organization(s) do you love to support? I support and talk about the Family Justice Center of Washington County. We refer many victims there, as they provide many accommodations and help guide victims through the court process as well.
- Why is this cause (or these causes) important to you? Sometimes people feel uncomfortable talking about domestic violence awareness, but it’s so important to talk about it so we can be aware that signs of abuse are more than just physical, and it can escalate quickly. I believe that the more people are aware of everything that goes on in a domestic violence situation, the more they can understand why people make the choices that they do, and know how to help someone suffering in silence.
Zach
- Role: Facilities maintenance technician AKA Rivermark’s handyhuman
- Years of service at Rivermark? Two
- What’s something you really enjoy about working at Rivermark? Getting to know all the unique people we get to work with. A lot of people have come from some very different backgrounds and hearing their stories is always something I enjoy.
- Tell us about what volunteer activities you participate in the community. My wife and I have regularly attended cleanups with SOLV Oregon, attended protests to push for a better world for those around us, and take part in some town halls from time to time as well. She started her own nonprofit in 2020 to try to show thanks to the medical staff in our area that have dealt with the hardest parts of the covid pandemic. Of course, it’s been more difficult the last two years to get out and find new volunteer opportunities, but we are looking forward to things getting a little more normal before we try to find either a horse rescue or another sanctuary for us to spend some of our free time helping out at.
- What organization(s) do you love to support? I’m passionate about any organization fighting to protect our natural world. As a people I feel we need to understand better that we are not separate from the world around us, and we still very much depend on the natural processes around us to survive. Some of my favorite organizations to support in that mission are Environment Oregon, Backyard Habitats, Portland Audubon, Wildlife Defenders, and any local wildlife rehab centers that are dedicated to giving quality care to our injured wildlife. Oh! And the Goats on Belmont! They’re a wonderful little place to visit when you just need to pet a goat.
- Why is this cause (or these causes) important to you? My experiences in life have taught me that environmental causes are the most important causes for us to continue to thrive as a species. Whether you view the earth as a gift or as our mother, it is in our best interest to care for it as best as we can. I worked for a wildlife rehabilitation center in Corvallis (Chintimini Wildlife Center) for many years and what I learned there taught me not just about the world around us, but just how connected to it we very much are. The ocean’s plankton are our lungs, our pollinator friends are responsible for feeding us, our gross decomposers keep us clean, and the ecosystems they depend on are our responsibility to steward correctly. To me, “we are all in this together” isn’t a catch phrase for a pandemic, it’s a mantra we need to live by. I feel the more we learn about the animal kingdom the more it reinforces that we are of this earth and on this earth we depend.
Amy
- Role: Controller
- Years of service at Rivermark? Almost 10!
- What’s something you really enjoy about working at Rivermark? I’m passionate about our purpose as a credit union.
- Tell us about what volunteer activities you participate in the community. I primarily volunteer with the Oregon Humane Society. There I walk dogs and take dogs out of the shelter for runs.
- What organization(s) do you love to support? Animal-related organizations have always been my favorite. I am a huge animal lover.