The Row River Valley Community Partnership has received a $5,000 capacity-building grant from the Autzen Foundation. This support will help RRVCP engage a qualified fundraising consultant or firm to strengthen fundraising for our current primary focus: building the Dorena Fire Station.
Capacity building can sound removed from the work happening in a community. In reality, it is what helps a small organization continue that work and prepare for what comes next.
Our valley has important needs and equally important opportunities. Many of the projects before us require substantial funding, careful planning, and relationships built over time. Stronger fundraising guidance will help us communicate our community’s needs more clearly, develop a sustainable strategy, and build lasting relationships with people and organizations that want to invest in rural Lane County.
The Dorena Fire Station carries special meaning because it grows from a commitment already made by the community itself. Neighbors did the difficult work of placing the formation of the Row River Rural Fire Protection District on the ballot. In May 2024, voters said yes to creating a local taxing district and investing in their own safety. They chose to take responsibility for building emergency response capacity in a rural valley that had gone too long without dependable fire protection. The fundraising support made possible by this grant will help us honor that investment by building on what the community has already begun.
A permanent station in Dorena will serve more than a building or a single community. It will strengthen emergency response throughout Dorena, Culp Creek, Disston, and the surrounding Row River Valley. It will help protect our neighbors, the Coast Fork Willamette watershed, and the beautiful Umpqua National Forest lands that surround the valley we call home.
This is especially important for a young nonprofit serving a rural area. The work is broad because the lives of our neighbors and the needs of our communities are connected.
Emergency preparedness and wildfire mitigation help keep families safe. Community resilience helps neighbors prepare for emergencies and recover when difficult events occur. Watershed protection cares for the land and water that sustain our valley. Access to nourishing food, safe homes, and support for independence helps people remain healthy and meaningfully connected to the communities they call home.
These priorities are not separate from one another. Together, they help make it possible for people to remain in the Row River Valley and continue building their lives here.
The Autzen Foundation grant will not fund construction of the Dorena Fire Station directly. It will help RRVCP build the fundraising capacity needed to bring additional partners and resources to the project. In that way, a $5,000 investment can help carry forward the much larger investment our community has already made in its own future.
For our small organization, this is a needed lift. It gives us an opportunity to become stronger and more prepared while remaining rooted in the relationships, trust, and care that brought this work together in the first place.
We are grateful to the Autzen Foundation for believing in our work and helping us care for the valley we love.
