About Us
Black Joy Oregon is a Black-led nonprofit rooted in community, resilience, and joy. We provide mentorship and leadership opportunities for women of color while cultivating spaces where all marginalized communities can feel seen, supported, and celebrated.
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Since launching the Black Joy Tour in 2020—visiting 117 rural Oregon towns in the wake of national racial unrest—we’ve continued to grow our impact through advocacy, mutual aid, urban agriculture, civic engagement, and culturally responsive programs. From free community farming and emergency support, to advocacy support and healing spaces, our work centers the voices of those most often left out and builds a future where care, connection, and liberation are within reach for all.
What We Do
Spreading Black Joy & Celebrating Black Excellence
The original idea of Black Joy Oregon was dreamed up by our Founder Juli Ray C. Joy, sparked by a conversation she had with a young Black Woman from a rural Oregon community. She had shared that while growing up in rural Oregon, she had never seen another Black person outside of her family. She had been wanting to organize an event/protest but she didn’t know who would stand with her and Juli Ray thought to herself… We will stand with you!! Juli Ray realized that although we had seen a huge influx of protests and support for Black lives along the I-5 corridor, those who live in rural Oregon may not feel or see the same support. We decided that we would travel to rural Oregon to make sure our Black and Brown Oregonians know that they are loved, supported, and represented.
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We were awarded grant funding to partner in getting 4 doulas fully certified at no cost to them, to be able to provide labor, postpartum, and abortion services. All of the doulas are people of color and/or members of the LQBTQIA+ community, and we were able to cover the cost for over 20 family's full doula services.
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Spring 2024 - we broke ground on the Black Joy Farm. A contract for a quarter acre of raw land in Keizer was donated to us and we started working on getting the ground ready for planting. We have now transformed that space into a fully functioning organic community garden. The Farm took off quickly and we were ready for our first harvest on Juneteenth! Fast forward to the end of the summer, we harvested 1,500lbs in produce. All of which has been given out to BIPOC households in the Salem/Kiezer and surrounding areas. While most people struggled to get their gardens to produce much last summer, we seemed to have the opposite experience... we attribute it to the sheer amount of love and joy present each week!! Our second season popped off from the very beginning. We have already harvested over 2,000 lbs this year! Which is well on our way to our 2025 goal to at least double last year's total weight. Our volunteer list has grown as well as our list of BIPOC households receiving free, organic produce this year.
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We are finishing up our Hydroponic Gardening project that put hydroponic systems inside peoples homes, so they are able to grow their own food at home even if they don't have a yard at zero cost to them!
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Our operation is run off of fundraising, grant funding, volunteers and donations!
We appreciate any and all support y'all give us!!
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Everything counts!
Our Founder
Juli Ray C. Joy
Juli Ray founded Black Joy Oregon in the summer of 2020. Her goal behind starting this group was to bring a different side of the movement to the forefront, to focus on Joy as Resistance. Juli Ray has been an organizer for many years with different unions, including SEIU, and is currently the Movement Building Director for Partnership of Safety and Justice. She does custom DEI and De-escalation trainings all over the state and has served on countless panels. Juli Ray works tirelessly to ensure that the Black People in Oregon are well taken care of and she does everything in her power to create a safer Oregon for all marginalized communities.
How You Can Help
Donate to Our Cause
Donations help our operation run! Everything we do is made possible from fundraising and donations. When we travel, we like to take care of as much as possible to limit any financial strain on our folks. Donations help make community events happen and everything you give will help us continue pouring into our community!