The Grange School and Smart Growth
Community organizations are multi-faceted. In addition to delivering programs and services, they need to develop good business practices and realistic plans for growth. At the Community Foundation we understand the importance of all of these functions. Some groups have great ideas for community programs, but if they don’t have the organizational structures that will support them, they can’t survive.
Taking the time to do serious planning is hard for young organizations. That is why Michelle Rich, the Community Foundation’s Program Officer, was happy to see the application from the Grange School of Adaptive Agriculture (Grange School) for the completion of a strategic planning process entitled “Stable Foundation.” “They understood that they needed to invest in organizational development, and that it was the right time to do so. I give credit to them for recognizing the need.”
Mentors Help Youth Explore Career Paths
It is difficult for most kids to know what career path they want to choose. This is especially true for young people living in rural communities because of the limited number of jobs and role models available to them.
That is why Soroptimist International of the Mendocino-Sonoma Coast (SIMSC) joined up with Action Network and Point Arena High School to launch a career discovery program for high school girls. “It started when members of our local Soroptimist group learned about a program entitled ‘Dream It, Be It,’ a curriculum created by Soroptimist International” said Janet Kukulinsky from Action Network. “We built on that and also used the ‘Career Cruising’ software, one-on-one mentoring, and business skills training.”
The Right Path after Graduation
Graduation from high school represents a crossroads. There are sign posts pointing in many directions, and young men and women need to choose a path. That is the situation that George Madrigal, who recently opened a scholarship fund at the Community Foundation, faced when he graduated from Willits High School in 1986.
“I grew up seeing first hand that you had to work hard,” George told me. “My dad, Agustin, and his entire family were migrant farm workers and then he went to work for the railroad. Eventually my dad worked for Remco. On the weekends he did yard work and brought my brother and me along to help. When I graduated from high school, there was pressure to stay in town and work. However, my mother, Eugenia, who grew up in Mexico and had worked hard as a housekeeper, insisted I go to college like my older brother, and that is the direction I chose.”
It was this important decision that led both to a successful career path and also an interest in encouraging other children of immigrant parents to pursue college educations.
A Second Chance for Education
Fionna Perkins, the late poet laureate of Point Arena, was a friend of mine as well as a donor to the Community Foundation. I looked forward to my visits with her and talking about books, politics, local projects (she was a strong supporter of the Point Arena Library), and her legacy. With regards to the latter, Fiona had a dream of helping working women return to college and get the education that would allow them to realize their full potential. She left an endowment gift to the Community Foundation in order to make that happen.
That is why I was happy to learn about Mariana Torres Nunez, the woman who received the Perkins Scholarship this year, and I knew Fionna would have been pleased by the selection. Mariana began her college courses in Mexico, but left school in order to care for her sick father. When her father passed away, she moved to the United States and began a 9-year period of time working at a nursing home in Fort Bragg while she and her partner raised three boys.
Time for Camp!
Summer camp is special. It is the first time that many kids have the opportunity to live outside of their family homes and to explore who they are individually and as members of a community of peers.
Camp Winnarainbow (http://campwinnarainbow.org) is also special. It has been an institution in northern Mendocino County for over 40 years, employing 20-40 local people each year and bringing many visitors to the area. It was founded by one of Northern California’s favorite clowns, Wavy Gravy, and his wife Jahanara Romney. “It has been how Wavy and I decided to give back and make this world a better place,” Jahanara explains. “We make it a fun place for children, and try to include kids from every possible walk of life – kids who are economically challenged and economically well off, kids of different ethnicities, kids from the city and from the country. And while we are teaching them circus acts like juggling and stilts, we also are teaching them how to work together and care about each other. Our belief is that once your heart gets touched by people who are different than the people you are raised around, you will always have a cord of empathy for them. Wherever life takes you, you will remember those lessons.”
An Extraordinary Ordinary Person
In our all too brief lifetimes, some people have the ability to rise above the mundane and focus on the things that truly make a difference. In their often quiet ways, they are extraordinary people who touch many lives. Andrea Whipple, who passed away this year, was one of those people.
Andrea was a Community Foundation regional advisor from Covelo for over a decade. When I recently went to Covelo with two Community Foundation board members to present grant checks, we also had the opportunity to reflect on Andrea’s many contributions with Jim Russ, Paula Fugman, and John Marshall.
Keeping Our Trails Open and Maintained
There are few things I enjoy more than walking on a beautiful trail. The opportunity to live in a place surrounded by forests and the ocean was the reason my husband and I moved to Mendocino County twenty-eight years ago, and I never tire of the beauty of this place.
That is why I am excited by the Community Foundation’s recently opened Fund for Trails and Open Space. The fund was created “with an appreciation of the natural beauty of Mendocino County and a belief that activities in the natural world contribute significantly to mental, physical, and spiritual health and well-being.”
Giving in the Time of Disasters
I first became aware of the possibility of a natural disaster as something to be concerned about when I moved to Washington State as a child. Living near Mount St. Helens, I soon learned that it was a volcano and that volcanoes erupt. As an adult, there seem to be disasters reported all the time – and statistically that is true. In 2014 there were 324 natural disasters registered according to the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. These disasters caused $99.2 billion in economic damages. Although these numbers seem staggeringly high, they are actually below the annual averages for the last 10 years. While philanthropic giving plays a key role in helping to recover from this enormous financial impact, philanthropic efforts also make a difference before the disaster strikes and during the event.
Economic Development Fund to Make Grants
For those who are not involved in the day-to-day work of the Community Foundation, the different types of funds can be confusing. They include “unrestricted” funds which allow the Community Foundation to make grants for whatever charitable purposes the Foundation chooses. At the other end of the spectrum are “donor advised” funds, which use the donors’ recommendations on which grants to consider, and “designated” funds, which are created to support specific organizations. In the middle of the continuum are “field-of-interest” funds which give the Foundation discretion in making grants within donor selected areas of interest or geographical areas.
Repaying Generosity
By all accounts, Anderson Valley’s Bill Sterling has led an accomplished life, combining his professional practice of law with a life long passion for giving back to the community. “Law was my job, but I was always looking for other things that made sense,” Bill told me. “My partners were supportive of engaging in the community because it was good for business. But for me it went far beyond that. I grew up believing that we exist to serve others.”
Next: Subscribe »
