College Place Mayor Norma Hernández is a co-founder of Running Waters Equity Fund.

Running Waters Equity Fund has grant and networking opportunities for organizations and individuals who are working toward racial equity in the region.

The application for general operating grants, which opened Feb. 1 in honor of Black History Month, are available online at rwequityfund.org/projects. Applicants from Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Umatilla counties are eligible to apply for grants up to $7,500 in unrestricted funding. The grant application will close March 3.

The nonprofit also will host its first BIPOC mixer from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27 for people to network. The event will be at FVC Gallery, 420 W. Main St., and will feature music. All are welcome to attend.

Running Waters Equity Fund, or RWEF, was co-founded in 2021 by Rodney Outlaw and Norma Hernández who were the original co-chairs. Since Outlaw has taken on the role of executive director, Juli Reinholz stepped in as co-chair.

In a news release Outlaw said the work of eliminating systemic inequity is far from over after the recent events in Memphis, Tenn.

“RWEF is our way of addressing these issues locally by supporting grassroots organizations working toward this shared vision of racial equity for all,” Outlaw said. “Our goal with this grant opportunity is to provide unrestricted or emergency funding to those carrying the torch for, and supporting, our friends and neighbors of color.”

The nonprofit also has a rolling cycle grant, meaning it never closes, called the RWEF Emergency Grant.

The micro grants are available to organizations and groups in the region and serve as a one-time emergent gap in funding for nonprofits, charitable organizations and individuals who are doing work to reduce systemic inequities.

The grants are available in amounts up to $1,000 and are reviewed as they are submitted.

“Our goal is to become a part of the infrastructure,” Outlaw said. “You see a lot of new grant funding opportunities like ours come up but, more often than not, they find themselves in the spend down cycle.”

Outlaw said the spend down cycle refers to nonprofits that are not getting enough support through donations, volunteers and funding to be sustainable. The organization ends up giving away all their funds and dissolving.

“The goal for us now is to not become that,” Outlaw said. “We have to become a part of the infrastructure of the community, so we can be sustainable as another funding resource.”

Outlaw said Running Waters Equity Fund is rooted in trust-based philanthropy.

“That means going beyond the check,” Outlaw said. “That can sound pretty to a grant-funded organization but to believe it, and to walk it and live it through actions is really a beautiful thing. It deepens your relationships with organizations wanting to work in the community.”

Hernández, the mayor of College Place and co-chair to the nonprofit, said the grant opportunities are mostly focused on supporting BIPOC communities across the region. BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and people of color.

“We want to encourage them to become more involved in entrepreneurship here in the Walla Walla area,” Hernández said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean starting a store, but it could be anything from getting supplies to host an art show or renting out a space, so someone has a place to work.”

Hernández said she hopes the funding will serve as a bridge to help businesses that were left behind in the wake of COVID.

“A lot of businesses, especially ones that were run by immigrants or new entrepreneurs, didn’t know how to navigate that system,” Hernández said. “A lot of them lost out on those opportunities like how existing businesses were supported with relief funds. We’ve seen a lot of these smaller BIPOC businesses struggling.”

Both Hernández and Outlaw stress the importance of creating grant applications that are easy to navigate. Outlaw said smaller organizations struggle with finding strong grant writers or don’t have the funds to support an accountant.

Hernández said RWEF didn’t want to scare people away from even trying to fill out an application. “We wanted to make it simple, and we want people to be able to just tell us what they want to do with the funding.”

Hernández said the nonprofit prides itself on being an entity that gives people the chances to improve their communities.

“Thats our sole goal,” Hernández said. “Give people the chance and see what they can do with it.”