University District receives Umpqua Community Grant

Friday, June 18, 2021

With the help of a $3,500 new grant from the Umpqua Bank Charitable Foundation, the University District SERV (Stabilization, Equity, Revitalization, and Vibrancy) project will be funded. 

After nearly two decades of driving infrastructure improvements and policies that sparked public and private investment revitalization in our neighborhood, we are ready to implement the next phase of SERV.  

Although much of the infrastructure necessary to continue the rebuilding and reinvigoration of the historically underinvested southern University District (UD) is in place or funded (e.g., the new Gateway Bridge and MLK Jr. Way, Sprague Avenue reconstruction, and high-performance transit expansion), there are continued barriers to success such as a lack of business improvement services, insufficient workforce housing, childcare, and a food desert.

In the ever-lengthening wake of COVID-19, the next years are critical to promoting strategic growth that will stabilize the local community and ensure it becomes an equitable and vibrant urban core not just a gentrified annex to the downtown core.

The UD is where business and education grow together. It connects world-class education and innovation to a previously isolated and rundown community in equitable ways that accelerate shared community wellness and prosperity for the entire region. With Umpqua’s support of the UD’s 2021 SERV goals, our community has a transformative opportunity to help struggling neighborhoods, local businesses, and residents, and to realize more sustainable and just outcomes for all.