Unite Oregon

Mission

For over 23 years, Unite Oregon has been working to eliminate systemic inequities and fight for a just and equitable society for immigrants, refugees, people of color, and rural communities across Oregon. 

Led by immigrants, refugees, and Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Unite Oregon is the only intercultural movement-building nonprofit in Oregon with four chapters in northern/southern Oregon serving 70,000+ members/supporters and organizing communities across the urban-rural divide. We work across six key pillars to advance immigrant, refugee, and BIPOC communities in Portland:

1. Climate Justice

• Equitable Economic Development
• Housing Justice
• Health Equity
• Education Equity
• Reimagining Community Safety.

Bottom Line for Portland

As part of our Building Our Future campaign, over the next 3 years, Unite Oregon will establish Portland’s first regenerative community ecosystem. This work fights the displacement of our communities of color in East Portland and ensures that our communities remain anchored in the neighborhood.

In 2023, we completed a major milestone - acquiring 2 properties in East Portland that we need your help to transform into:

•      - Affordable housing
•      - A climate resilience center
•      - A childcare co-op with culturally-specific providers (two!)
•      - A commercial grade community kitchen for launching food & catering businesses
•      - A community gardens and green spaces
•      - Community meeting spaces
• We have the properties, the land, and the vision to create a community hub in East Portland, where our communities can eat, work, pray, and play together, but we need funding to complete construction and renovation to transform these properties into an innovative, holistic ecosystem that puts low-income communities of color at the center of their neighborhood revitalization.

Quote

“After getting evicted from the space we had been renting for years in North Portland and witnessing our community members get displaced from this area, we purchased our headquarters in East Portland in 2019, where many of our communities we organize with live. We want to create stability for our communities in East Portland, building a regenerative neighborhood ecosystem that supports them - as individuals, families, workers and fierce advocates for a just and equitable Oregon - and keeps them housed and healthy. And once we have finished building, we’ll be pursuing a transition to collective community ownership, to build power for immigrants, refugees, and BIPOC communities living in Portland.” 

- Leslie Lum, Community Development Director, Unite Oregon

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Our by-laws require that our board, staff, and membership be at least 50% immigrant, refugee, or people of color - our director team is 92% Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), immigrant and refugee and our staff is 83% immigrant, refugee, and BIPOC; collectively, we speak 12 languages. 

In 2023, we finished a year-long, facilitated process with all staff to collectively determine our core values that will serve as the foundation of all of our work: Black Liberation/Pro Blackness, Decolonization, Collectivism, Joy, and Intercultural Solidarity. These values are centered and at the heart of the Building Our Future project. 

Incentives

Scottie's Pizza Parlor: The first 10 donors who give $100 or more will receive a $20 gift card to Scottie’s Pizza Parlor.

Howdy Slowpoke: First donor to give over $100 will receive a 2 hour stick and poke session - custom or flash with Lyss/Howdy Slowpoke, a queer hand-poke artist making tattoos for *every* body. 

Partner(s)

Scottie's Pizza Parlor: Scottie's Pizza Parlor serves simple, well-crafted, delicious pizza as 18" round and 16" square pies to the SE Portland area.

Howdy Slowpoke: Queer hand-poke artist making tattoos for every body.

Next Up: At Next Up, we envision a future where youth boldly lead forward. It’s a place where our democracy is inclusive and accessible, and our communities are strong and resilient.

Bag&Baggage: Bag&Baggage's mission is to unpack the stories we carry with us — from anecdotal to epic; from original to classic — using these as the groundwork to create transformative theatrical experiences that explore our shared humanity.