VCCF Power of Purpose – October 2026

Chère famille de la Ventura County Community Foundation,

Last month, I invited you to think about your lollipop moments, what Drew Dudley in his TED Talk “Everyday Leadership” calls seemingly small interactions that make a lasting difference in someone’s life, often without the person responsible ever realizing what they have done.

The many responses we received warmed our hearts. We heard a story from decades ago about a young woman about to leave for college to pursue her dream, who discovered at the last moment that the funding she thought was there did not exist. A neighbor told her, “Just go. It will all work out.” She did. Years later, she passes on the gift of higher education to so many young people by volunteering with your community foundation’s scholarship program.

Another reader shared that she was struck by the depth of the response when she shared her picnic lunch with a stranger who was hungry. Since then, every time she can, she buys coffee for others and shares what she has.

And one reader said we need to start a Lollipop Brigade to remind one another that we are all in this together. Her lollipop moment was about a friend and fellow grantee who provides food for area colleges’ food pantries and hygiene products for students experiencing homelessness. I was moved to tears by the beautiful exchange between these two marvelous women.

This month I want to stay with that idea a little longer, because I have been reading a book that explains why those moments matter so much.

“The Book of Joy” is a record of a week the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu spent together, two old friends trying to answer a simple question: how do we find joy in a world that holds so much hardship?

Their answer surprised me. Joy is not something that happens to us. It is a way of approaching the world. And the surest path to it is not chasing our own happiness. It is seeking to do good for others.

Both men say we are wired this way. We are built to care for one another. Archbishop Tutu describes it with a word from his own South African tradition: ubuntu. A person is a person through other persons. We depend on each other to become fully ourselves.

When I read that, I thought about lollipop moments again. The neighbor who said, “Just go.” The woman who shared her lunch. They were not trying to find joy. They were paying attention to someone else. And joy found them anyway.

That is what I see at your community foundation every day. A donor who sets up a scholarship fund in memory of a parent. A woman who lost her home in one disaster and shows up for a family she has never met when the next one strikes. A volunteer who stays late to make sure every family is served. None of them would call it leadership. All of them would say it brought them joy.

October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and I want to pause to honor the advocates, shelter team members, and survivors in our county who live ubuntu in its hardest form. They show up for people on the worst days of their lives, and they keep showing up. We were honored to support the Ventura County Family Justice Center this past month with a grant of $100,000 as part of our efforts to address incidents of violence from a public health perspective.

I am also proud to share that 805 UndocuFund is the latest grantee of the Ventura County Neighbors Support Fund & Coalition, in our seventh round of grantmaking. Their executive director, Primitiva Hernandez, was recently quoted in The New York Times about the organization’s work helping our neighbors through a frightening time. You can read the article here. I hope you will. It is a portrait of what it looks like to be a person through other persons.

So here is my invitation: let us keep remembering our lollipop moments and let us create new ones, together. If you are looking for a way to start, please consider donating to the Ventura County Neighbors Support Fund to get our eighth round of grant funds started.

Avec gratitude,

Vanessa

Vanessa Bechtel, présidente-directrice générale de la VCCF

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Meet VCCF Board Member, Jack Edelstein, in a new video interview!

Hear from Jack Edelstein, VCCF Board Member, in the newest installment of VCCF’s ‘Meet the VCCF Board’ video interview series! A 40-year resident of Ventura County, father, grandfather and community leader with extensive experience as a business leader and executive coach, Jack began his journey with VCCF as a volunteer before joining the board. Learn more about his passion for bringing more affordable housing solutions to Ventura County and his hopes for the future in this new video interview!

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Strategies to Help Maximize Your Year-End Giving

As we prepare for year-end giving, we invite you to join us for a special Virtual Lunch & Learn on Thursday, November 12 from 12 to 1 p.m. with Thomas Fisher, SVP and Senior Portfolio Manager of Montecito Bank & Trust. Tom will offer insight into Charitable Gift Planning Strategies, how VCCF can help you maximize your charitable impact through thoughtful gift planning with our team, and so much more.

With deep roots in the banking industry and a passion for exceptional service, Tom is a highly distinguished portfolio manager with a focused and knowledgeable approach to providing his clients with objective investment advice and unparalleled results. Tom has over 35 years of investment management experience, which includes overseeing assets for individuals, families, private foundations and other charitable organizations.

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La saison des bourses de la VCCF est désormais ouverte !

Demandes d'informations VCCF’s 2026/2027 Scholarship Season are now live! We have over 400 opportunities available avec plus de $2 millions allocated for awards. Be sure to spread the word to any students in your life, or submit your own application! Awards are open to all students in our community looking to continue their education.

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Scholarship Reader Spotlight

Nous avons rencontré VCCF Scholarship Reader, Chauntelle Casanova, to listen to why she’s passionate about being a part of our team of readers! In this video interview, Chauntelle shares how she came to be a part of our volunteer reader team, the most rewarding parts of her contributions and her hope for Ventura County’s students in the years to come.

Les VCCF scholarship readers are composed of community volunteers and scholarship donors who are committed to bettering educational opportunities for students in Ventura County. Each year, readers invest their time reading, reviewing and rating scholarship applications. Their expertise and time are highly valued and we could not do this work without them!

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“Affordability is the foundation of a dignified life”

Op-Ed by Dr. Jamshid Damooei

Dr. Jamshid Damooei, a member of the Projet Isabella whose pivotal research inspired the initiative’s creation, recently published an opinion piece featured in the Ventura County Star and other outlets. Noting the connection between infrastructure, affordable housing, food access and childcare, the article highlights ways to mitigate these problems through the expansion of existing programs, improving accessibility, and using efforts like the Isabella Project as a model.

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VCCF Speaks at Independent News Sustainability Summit

Creating Space for Local News to Thrive

Last month, VCCF President & CEO Vanessa Bechtel joined a panel of journalism and philanthropy leaders from across the state at the Independent News Sustainability Summit hosted by LION Publishers in San Diego. The panel, “From Pitch to Partnership: Capturing a Journalism Funder’s Attention,” explored the undergoing shift of journalism philanthropy and how local news outlets can build lasting relationships with foundations.

Moderated by Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, founder of Voice Media Ventures et le California Journalism Philanthropy Summit, the discussion brought together Vanessa alongside Emily Young, Vice President of Programs at the Prebys Foundation, and Christina Shih of Press Forward. Together, they offered insight into how independent newsrooms can cut through the noise, connect with funders and pursue the emerging opportunities in this evolving moment for journalism philanthropy, work closely tied to VCCF’s own commitment to strengthening local news through our journalism initiative.

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Les Swift Memorial Health Care Foundation Charitable Fund, established to honor the legacy of Dr. Floyd J. Swift and his wife, Ida Swift, supports nonprofit organizations that assess health care needs or provide health care services to Ventura County residents through community-focused programs, projects or events. We’re proud to announce the awardees of this grant opportunity who continue to uplift our community. Congratulations to all the organizations that were awarded!

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Fondation et coalition de soutien aux voisins du comté de Ventura

Virtual Lunch & Learn Recording Now Available!

The recording for our special Virtual Lunch & Learn session about the Fondation et coalition de soutien aux voisins du comté de Ventura is now available! Our featured guest speakers for this call were two of the fund’s grantees, Interface Children & Family Services et Charités catholiques du comté de Ventura, who shared some of their accomplishments, challenges, community impacts, how their work encapsulates the theme of “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” and more! The recording for this inspiring session is available in both English and Spanish, and you can watch today!

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Community-Focused Solutions for Domestic Violence

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and VCCF has worked with partners across our community to seek ways to address this issue throughout our county. Earlier this year, VCCF was proud to make a $100,000 contribution to the Centre de justice familiale du comté de Ventura to help support their work to aid those impacted by family violence and trauma from a public health approach. Additionally, we have been part of a taskforce committee alongside leaders from public safety, healthcare and community services to publish an Incidence of Violence Report, looking into violence prevention in our community through a comprehensive socioeconomic and public health lens.

Visit FJC’s website to learn more about their work, solutions and resources available in Ventura County.

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Ventura County’s New Domestic Violence Shelter, Serenity House

Opened earlier this year at the Ventura Family Justice Center and operated by the Coalition for Family Harmony, the new domestic violence shelter Serenity House offers 10 spaces where survivors can stay for 15 to 20 days while they plan their next steps. The shelter also provides tools and an experienced on-site team to help support them during distressing times. We are so thankful for all the donors, supporters and teams who have worked to make this facility, and others like it, a valuable asset to help make our community a safer place.

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