Ben B. Cheney Foundation Celebrates Innovators
As 2025 marches on, the Ben B. Cheney Foundation continues to celebrate 50 years of service in regions where the Cheney Lumber Company once operated. As a meaningful way to celebrate this milestone, the Foundation Board is honoring and reinvesting into some of the organizations who continue to make a remarkable impact on the people and communities they serve through special 50th anniversary grants.
Board members selected many of the 50th anniversary grant recipients because they have been trusted partners doing good work since the foundation’s inception in 1975. Others were selected for their innovative work and how they are paving the way forward through the next 50 years. These are leaders in the nonprofit sector meeting immediate needs while also forging a brighter future for their communities through unique partnerships, strategic networking, and new levels of community connection.
Two recipients of these anniversary innovation grants are La Clinica in Medford Oregon, and Jefferson Community Foundation in Port Townsend, Washington.
La Clinica
La Clinica started in 1989 to provide basic medical services out of makeshift sites and mobile units, serving seasonal farm workers and migrants in Jackson County. Over time, the mission was expanded to provide health care for all – regardless of income or insurance status.
Today La Clinica is a nonprofit network of community health centers operating 29 locations in Jackson County. In addition to traditional clinics, their work is embedded in locations like schools and in community centers. They also operate an acute care clinic at the Options for Helping Residents of Ashland (OHRA) Center and the on-campus Student Health & Wellness Center at Southern Oregon University, both in Ashland, Oregon. This approach allows them to meet people where they are.
An early adopter of whole-person model of care, La Clinica brings medical, dental, behavioral health, and women’s health together under one roof. Through strategic partnerships, they have created a patient-centered approach that reduces healthcare barriers (transportation, navigating the healthcare system, etc…) to some of Jackson County’s more vulnerable residents.
The $50,000, 50th anniversary grant to La Clinica is a tribute to their creativity, determination and enduring commitment to advancing access to affordable, quality health care in southern Oregon.
Jefferson Community Foundation
Currently celebrating 20 years, the Jefferson Community Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to build a future of opportunity for all in Jefferson County.
Through their role as a county educator, convener, and trusted partner, they have demonstrated the power of connection and the impact that can be achieved when information, resources, and relationships are shared in service of the greater good. Jefferson Community Foundation fills a gap that small communities often lack: a trusted space for cross-sector collaboration. Their staff is actively involved in the region. The Foundation headquarters offer a meeting space for their partners to use. This community foundation does not simply collect and distribute funds, they are about people, and connecting people to create change.
For those reasons, the Ben B. Cheney Foundation was proud to present Jefferson Community Foundation with a $50,000, 50th anniversary grant.
From Southern Oregon to the Olympic Peninsula, we are inspired by the incredible work done by La Clinica and Jefferson Community Foundation. Both entities demonstrate innovation and compassion, and we look forward to the positive changes both organizations will continue to deliver in the years to come.