Blue Mountain Community Foundation

About Blue Mountain Community Foundation

Blue Mountain Community Foundation’s recent grantmaking is marked by large unrestricted awards to the institutions that anchor Walla Walla Valley life, from Walla Walla Valley Academy to Liberty Christian School and the YWCA. Those board-approved grants sit alongside programmatic support for scholarships, emergency needs, habitat work, and community funds across the Blue Mountain region. The foundation’s giving pattern reaches schools, health providers, human-service agencies, museums, arts organizations, land trusts, and community colleges, reflecting a broad local portfolio rather than a single-issue strategy. Recent awards show that the foundation supports both ongoing operating capacity and targeted community priorities. Walla Walla Community College Foundation and Walla Walla Catholic Schools appear among the larger recipients, while Christian Aid Center, Providence St Mary Foundation, and Blue Mountain Humane Society also receive repeated support. The same grantmaker also administers common scholarship applications and several place-based funds, including efforts tied to Columbia County, Garfield County, Dayton, Waitsburg, and the surrounding region. That mix of discretionary board grants and named local funds gives Blue Mountain Community Foundation a structure that can support institutions, students, and nonprofit operations within the same overall portfolio.

What Blue Mountain Community Foundation Funds

Education is a clear part of the foundation’s portfolio. Through the common scholarship application, it supports higher education, career and technical education, and field-specific awards for students in Walla Walla County, Columbia County, and Garfield County. Board grants also reach colleges and schools in the region, including Walla Walla Community College Foundation and Walla Walla University. Human services are another major area. The foundation has granted to the YWCA and Christian Aid Center for general purposes, and it runs year-round unforeseen-needs support for nonprofits facing crises that threaten operations and service delivery. Place-based environmental work also appears in the portfolio. The PSE Lower Snake River Wind Habitat Project Fund supports habitat stewardship in Garfield County, while the Columbia County Habitat Grant through the PGE Tucannon River Wind Habitat Project Fund funds habitat restoration for wildlife and residents.

How Blue Mountain Community Foundation Gives