When Joni Kabana first saw the Spray General Store in Spray, Oregon, the roof was in disrepair, a tree was threatening the building from the back and it was filled with stuff the owner was storing. The whole building was in rough shape.

But Kabana felt a calling to do something with the old beloved store.

“My intuition just said, ‘Let’s do it.' Sometimes I just go with my gut with what I’m supposed to do,” she said.

That was 12 years ago. Three years ago, she bought the building. She removed the threatening tree and put on a new roof. At first, she thought the building would be a good place for her photography and writing studio. But it soon morphed into a community center. The Spray General Store now offers the community of Spray – and its 159 residents – and others, a place to visit, a place to create art, play music, take classes and hold meetings – a place to gather and get to know each other. Kabana acts as the event and building manager.

Throughout the years when the building needed something she applied for grants and asked for donations. As you can imagine, an old building has its needs. One of the store’s needs was for a heater that would heat the kitchen and bathroom.

Recently Kabana applied for a Resilience Hubs and Networks Grant from the Oregon Department of Human Services Office of Resilience and Emergency Management (OREM). The funding came from Oregon Legislature through House Bill 3409 passed in 2023. The grant allocated $10 million to develop Resilience Hubs throughout Oregon.

The Spray General Store was one of the grant’s recipients, receiving $26,300. There were more than 700 applicants for this grant money. More than 87 different groups from throughout the state were awarded a grant. $2 million was set aside to provide to each of the Nine Tribes of Oregon $222,222.

“What impressed me was I had chance to visit Spray. I talked to neighbors, and they all worked together. There had been a big forest fire in Spray. When I went to visit, I opened the doors and there were air filters, water for people. It was a perfect example of what a resilience hub is,” Ed Flick, OREM Director, said.

“When they told me I got our grant, and they told me we could have heat I got really choked up. I got really emotional. Rarely do we get funding for building issues. That bathroom and kitchen are really freezing. We would hear people scream when they went into the bathroom. Getting heat in the kitchen and bathroom is going to be a game changer for us,” Kabana said.

Being able to use the kitchen and bathroom in the winter months means the store can hold more community events through off seasons when area businesses are struggling. Being used in the winter can bring more people to town who will use places like the motel, the grocery store and the gas station.

Some of the grant money will also be used to install electricity in the storage building in the back. That’s where they store blacksmithing and ceramic material used in their classes and also wood and tools.

“Now if you need a tool or something you go in there and there is no light. You better go in during the day,” Kabana said.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to upgrade the heating and provide operational costs to keep the General Store functioning year-round. If the need arises, this will be a place the people of Spray can go to seek shelter, water and other resources.” Jenn Bosch, OREM Grants Program Administrator, said.

Here is what the grant will fund: heat repaired/installed in the kitchen and bathroom; operational costs such as internet, electric, water; outreach; window purchase and installation; and partial costs of an electrical panel in the barn.

Kabana also wants to bring in a mobile BBQ food cart. There is no restaurant in Spray. And the other two restaurants about an hour’s drive away just closed. She wants to let people have a really good restaurant experience. She hopes to partner the food cart with an event like a float on the nearby John Day River, or an open mic night for musicians.

Learn more about the Resilience Hubs and Networks Grant: https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/emergency-management/Pages/resilience-grants.aspx