Tackle Community Priorities
 Tackling community priorities is a big challenge.
With a mission “to promote and enable philanthropy
to improve our community for good for
ever,” VCCF is one of the few organizations that is
able to bring people together from throughout
Ventura County to focus on tackling complex
challenges.
The role of a catalyst and community leader is
one we take seriously. We believe a key responsibility
of philanthropy is to harness resources for
the public good.
We also believe that collaboration and partnership
are hallmarks of success and that the power of
philanthropy comes best from working with
donors – large and small, local and regional – to
find ways to work together to make a difference.
We invite you to partner with VCCF to strengthen
the future of our county. There is much to be done.
Community Response Fund
This Fund provides undesignated dollars to
address issues that demand a response.
Priorities will change, but VCCF will be able to
bring thoughtful analysis and charitable dollars to
focus on key community challenges.
SUN (Special and Urgent Needs) Fund
This Fund provides emergency grants of up to
$5,000 to meet special and urgent needs of
nonprofits. These range from the devastating loss
of a key piece of equipment to unexpected but
worthy opportunities which always seem to arise
in the midst of budget cycles.
Ventura County Funders Forum
Funders who support nonprofits in
Ventura County meet quarterly to learn
from each other about what works and what
priorities address the missions of other
grantmakers. Listening to how we can be more
effective grantmakers helps make us better investors
in Ventura County’s future.
Civic Alliance – Livable Communities and a Sustainable Future
The Civic Alliance is working to enhance livable
communities. Working both on regional strategies for
development, and on what can be created in specific
communities, this unique group calls together civic
leaders representing each of the three Es (economy,
environment and social equity) to develop strategies
that work.
Affordable Housing
Affordable housing is a challenge where the median
price continues to escalate to levels out of reach for
many. Strategies for affordable housing, whether for
workforce components, farmworkers, middle-class
families and/or those young families just starting
out, are being developed by the Civic Alliance, the
Fund for Farmworker Housing and other partner
organizations.
Destino Literacy Initiative
Destino’s Latino Literacy Initiative expands Destino’s
annual grants budget to focus on programs that
strengthen literacy skills. With programs on health
literacy, financial literacy and reading literacy (particularly
among multiple generations), as well as arts
and cultural literacy, the Initiative will change lives.
Social Justice Giving Circle
Some believe inequities need to be addressed by
doing more. This giving circle is working to award
$50,000 in its inaugural (2006-07) cycle to organizations
that work for systems change and reducing
inequities in our communities.
Empowering Women and Girls
The only permanent endowment fund to
address the needs of women and girls in
Ventura County, the Women’s Legacy Fund has
built over $1.2 million to sustain an annual
grants program. Focusing on such areas as family
strengthening, protection against domestic
violence, economic empowerment and job
training, grants tackle issues like economic
empowerment, educational opportunities in the
workforce, responses to increases in domestic
violence, and the challenges to a healthier
lifestyle.
Nursing
There is a profound nursing shortage in Ventura
County. Working through dedicated scholarship
funds, and the Medical Education Fund, VCCF
offers resources, including forgivable loans, to
students who come back to practice in the
county. VCCF is working to develop strategies
that engage a broad array of stakeholders.
A partnership with California State University,
Channel Islands will launch a two-year initiative
to develop countywide strategies to address this
challenge, funded by the Robert Woods Johnson
Foundation and the Northwest Area Health
Foundation.
Community Priorities
These are just a few of the community priorities
where philanthropy can make a difference,
either with grant dollars or by bringing diverse
groups together to talk across boundaries. We
welcome you to join these, or other initiatives
underway, as the power of dedicated and
committed people will once again prove more
powerful than the challenges we face.
Promoting and enabling philanthropy to
improve our community is more than just a
mission statement. It is a critical path to
addressing priorities that reside in our
neighborhoods and communities. It is also a
way for each of us to work to strengthen the
bands of community under such strain by a
modern world moving at warp speeds.
Call us at 805-988-0196 to find out how you, and VCCF, can tackle
community priorities – together, we can make a
real difference for Ventura County, for today and
tomorrow.
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