Confluence Environmental Center

Our Spring Raffle is live! Check out some of our prize options with entries costing as low as $5. Enter now through June 16th for your chance to win while also supporting Confluence Environmental Center!

Not able to participate this time? You can help us by sharing the raffle with your network. Visit the link in our bio to learn more!

In addition to our Come Together for Confluence event on June 10th, we have launched a Spring Raffle!

Starting at $5.00, you can enter to win prizes worth over $1,000 from local businesses, wineries, restaurants, and more!

Enter now through June 16th for your chance win while also contributing to the success of Confluence Environmental Center. Winners will be announced live on June 17th at 12pm.

Prizes include:
🌊Half day rafting in the gorge-ous gorge: two spots on the White Salmon half day summer rafting trip with Wet Planet [Exp. 9/2027]
🍇Willamette Valley wine day: complementary seated tasting for up to four (4) guests at Willamette Valley Vineyards
🪼(2) Float sessions to rest the mind, body, and soul at Float On [SE Portland]
🎫Family day at OMSI: four (4) general admission day passes

View more prizes and enter through the link in our bio!

All funds raised will be in support of our ongoing nonprofit programming. Thank you for supporting Confluence's mission to advance environmental equity by developing leaders in culturally responsive education, ecological restoration, and cross sector collaboration.

Save the date! We are excited to host environmental justice leaders, alumni, partners, and supporters for our first ever, in-person fundraising event: Confluence-style.

Our inaugural Come Together for Confluence event will be held on Wednesday, June 10th at 5:30pm at Level Beer on NE 148th Ave. Join us for a celebratory night of networking, dinner, and some sweet raffle items! All funds raised will be support our ongoing nonprofit programming.

More information to come!

🌷Spring member highlight time!

On Saturday, April 11th, Remi, a member serving as the Community Gardens and Food Security Coordinator at the Housing Authority of Clackamas County, hosted students from to volunteer for a morning of service. Together, they were able to distribute compost to all 50 of the resident's garden beds! The compost will provide a more nutrient dense and fluffy foundation for the gardeners to have a successful season growing their food and flowers.

Some volunteers also cleared out garden beds that had become overgrow with invasives such as blackberry and field grass in order to make space for more food production and native plants. They also moved some of the compost to a more accessible area, creating a station where gardeners have more autonomy and ability to move the compost where they need by themselves!

This month, we are highlighting our current member, Alexis, who is serving as the Community Gardens and Food Security Coordinator at the Housing Authority of Clackamas County's new Blossom & Community apartments!

Alexis graduated with a degree in Sustainability and spent two years teaching elementary school kids how to garden. Alexis enjoys seeing others learn about plants and how they grow, which led her to apply to be an AmeriCorps member with Confluence. As the Community Garden and Food Security Coordinator, Alexis engages housing residents in their new on-site community garden and free food market while also leading community education about healthy cooking and other wellness topics. Her favorite part of serving as a Confluence member is being able to get back in garden and seeing residents excited about their brand new plot.

In her free time, Alexis enjoys her little balcony garden and trying new foods around Portland. She enjoys reading, especially murder mystery books, and also has a cat named Butters!

Request for Proposals are due soon!

Confluence invites all eligible nonprofit organizations, public schools and government agencies to submit a proposal to host a Confluence AmeriCorps Member for the 2026-2027 cycle by April 10th.

Are you interested in what this might mean for your organization? You can view our Proposal Guidelines, Online Application, & Factsheets on our website. Please reach out to our Program Director, Ashlie Tainer, with any questions at [email protected].

We look forward to reading your proposals!

On Tuesday, Confluence members and staff gathered for our second National Service Event of the term to honor Dolores Huerta and her work in the labor movement. We spent the afternoon volunteering with at Gilbert Park Elementary School planting native plant starts, pulling blackberry, and repairing the walls on raised garden beds.

Each year Confluence amplifies the impact of service, education and community connection by joining thousands of AmeriCorps Members around the country to participate in National Service Day events. These days are planned and organized by Confluence Members to create a meaningful day of service that is aligned with the mission and intentions of the honoree, while also providing education and pathways to continuing their legacy.

This week, we’d like to spotlight one of our current AmeriCorps Members, Bird Babcock, who is currently serving as the Climate Justice Community Engagement Coordinator at Portland Public Schools!

Bird recently graduated with a degree in Public Relations at the University of Oregon, where they built experience in environmental organizing and communications. In Eugene, Bird helped local nonprofits and public agencies foster inspiration and engagement around their climate action projects. Bird moved up to Portland in 2025 and found Confluence shortly after.

As the Climate Justice Community Engagement Coordinator, Bird’s favorite part of the role is getting to work directly with students. They love seeing students feeling empowered and hopeful in the face of the climate crisis, while also coming up with amazing ideas to combat climate change at their schools and in their communities.

In their spare time, Bird loves connection with themselves, their community, and world through community-led collective action projects. Since moving to Portland, Bird has also started dancing at a local studio and exploring the stunning hikes in the gorge!

This week, we are celebrating our members and their accomplishments through participation in AmeriCorps Week 2026!

Confluence has supported over 200 members since 2011 through a term of service in the Portland area with one of our many partner organizations. From environmental education, conservation, and habitat restoration to garden education and watershed health in our local communities, our members have made a huge impact. Thank you to current and past members for your dedication and passion!

Interested in hosting an AmeriCorps member for the 2026-27 service year but still want more information? Join our Virtual Information Session this Wednesday, March 11th, from 11:00-11:45am.

RSVP through our website at www.confluencecenter.org/rfp. We look forward to connecting with you all then!