The Spechtrum Youth Center is more firmly planted on Warm Srings ground after the state of Oregon’s two major foundations solidified EXYP’s presence there for years to come. 

Meyer Memorial Trust awarded EXYP $300,000 to establish the Warm Srings operation over a three-year span.  The Ford Family Foundation granted EXYP another major blessing—a three-year, $130,000 grant to launch a series of “Hope & Healing” programs at The Spechtrum. 

Meyer Memorial Trust, based in Portland, pledged its support to what it termed “an important group of kids who we want to serve.” 

The Ford Family Foundation of Roseburg continued its longstanding commitment to serve rural Oregon communities and support youth programs. 

“We are honored to have these two great foundations as vital partners in our Warm Srings Youth Center project,” says Matt Burton, EXYP Executive Director.  “Their three-year commitments will have a profound impact on our efforts to reach out to native youth on Oregon’s largest reservation.”

When The Spechtrum opened, it became the reservation’s only youth-oriented program operating on evenings and weekends.  Warm Srings children, parents and community leaders have praised the youth center’s immediate success in providing a safe, positive gathering place for kids ages 6 to 21.

“This youth center is one of the best things that has happened to Warm Srings in a long time,” says Susan Jensen, mother of three children who live on the reservation.  “I’m noticing a difference in the kids who spend time there and take part in the activities.”

EXYP is able to make that difference thanks to generous support from donors and foundations.  The Ford Family Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust join The Collins Foundation, the Mission Increase Foundation, the Juan Young Trust and the Jubitz Family Foundation in making grants to the Warm Srings Youth Center project in the past year. 

The Murdock Charitable Trust of Vancouver, Wash., stands as EXYP’s first major grantor.

Russ Brown, EXYP’s board chairman, says, “These significant grants endorse the value of what we’re doing in Warm Srings.  It builds a strong base for our future development plans.”