VCCF Community Update
Dear Ventura County Community Foundation Family,
There is such exciting news to report since we last connected! Just a few highlights are below:
- We were overjoyed to receive thousands of applications from local students pursuing their higher education/ career goals for the VCCF Scholarship Program (Scholarship Reception is June 6, 2019)
- Our VCCF Board of Directors approved just under $5 million in grants to our community so far this month alone
- VCCF was selected by the State of California to be steward to $1.1 million for six counties to help achieve a complete and accurate count in the 2020 Census. Literally, millions and millions of dollars are at stake for the programs that help bridge gaps in our society and allow all to live in dignity. An accurate Census is vital for funding of:
- Rural business and industry development loans
- Job training and other employment programs
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- Healthcare for infants and children
- Childcare for low-income and working families
- Water and waste disposal systems
- Policing agencies and community-based entities working to reduce crime
- Monitoring and enforcing discrimination laws under the Civil Rights Act
- Local agencies for food, healthcare, and legal services for senior citizens and individuals with disabilities
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- More than 200 local community members attended the Ventura Land Trust’s Environmental Speakers Series, sponsored by VCCF, to learn more about California’s Year-Round Wildfire Season
Conejo Valley Victims Fund
We are profoundly grateful to Kirsti Thompson, Director of Operations of Give An Hour California. Give An Hour continues to provide ongoing support to those impacted by the Borderline tragedy at no cost by trained, licensed trauma experts.
Because of the tremendous outpouring of support both locally and globally, $3,618,726 in distributions will be mailed early next week to the victims’ families and survivors present at the time of the Borderline tragedy. These funds are being disbursed as outlined in the Final Protocol published on the website www.ConejoValleyVictimsFund.org.
Additional dollars have been pledged and we will continue to raise funds to help. The need for support for those impacted is far from over. Funds raised will be distributed periodically in accordance to the same protocol as outlined above.
As previously discussed, we have contracted with Armanino, one of the top 25 largest independent accounting and business consulting firms in the United States, to complete an independent review of the funds raised and distributed. This report will be published on our website as soon as it is completed. Their report will confirm that 100% of funds raised went directly to those impacted and present during the tragedy and will protect the confidentiality of those involved.
Hill Fire/ Woolsey Fire Sudden and Urgent Needs Effort Update
The Ventura County Community Foundation granted another $1,487,042.69 at this week’s Board of Directors meeting, bringing the total grantmaking for Hill Fire/ Woolsey Fire to $2,612,363.69. Total grants awarded include:
- $150,000 to the Pacific Coast and Ventura County Chapter of the American Red Cross (Red Cross) for an Emergency Response Vehicle
- $115,000 to the Red Cross for Ventura County Recovery Coordination
- $146,250 to the Red Cross for General Operations Support
- $1,394 to Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship for Evacuation expenses for horses, additional staffing, fuel for trailers, stall cleaning
- $10,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley for expenses related to serving children during school closures, club clean-up, and counseling services
- $30,000 total to KCLU Public Radio (California Lutheran University) with $20,000 to replace damaged main transmitter and supporting equipment and an additional $10,000 for matching funds for the campaign to replace equipment, which they met
- $5,000 to 805 Help to support their immediate response to bring online access to our community during the fires
- $15,000 to Senior Concerns for adult daycare, meals and support for our community’s seniors who were evacuated and need care
- $5,350 to Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association to help cover costs associated with evacuations of those on hospice
- $7,000 to the Camarillo Boys & Girls Club to cover costs associated with emergency childcare needs due to school closures
- $783,600 to the Southeast Ventura County YMCA with the first $445,000 going to provide individual assistance to families affected by the fires, $9,500 to cover costs associated with emergency childcare needs due to school closures, and the latest $329,100 to provide direct financial assistance for housing and other basic needs for 47 applicants; HOA fees for 16 mobile home residents; Y memberships for 25 fire-impacted families
- $1,827 to Mark Watring Stables for the evacuation of 43 horses, hauling of feed and water supplies, and overtime
- $25,000 to the Economic Development Collaborative for General Operations Support as they serve business owners impacted by the fires
- $21,500 to Cal State Channel Islands Foundation to feed and house students evacuated by the fires
- $500 to Cal Lutheran University’s Center for Nonprofit Leadership to sponsor a free webinar entitled “Fundraising in Response to a Community Crisis”
- $6,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Oxnard & Port Hueneme to help cover expenses related to serving children during school closures.
- $5,000 to Fly-Hope Dream to cover flights for fire survivors
- $10,000 to Little Angels Project to cover costs of veterinary care for injured animals
- $16,000 to Lockwood Animal Rescue Center to provide lodging and basic needs for people and animals
- $1,099,882.69 to Salvation Army to provide mid to long-term direct financial assistance for 800 individuals and families for housing, food, utility assistance and staffing to support case managers and additional basic needs support to those impacted
- $155,560 to Totally Local VC Agricultural Education Foundation (Local Love Project) to provide direct financial assistance and case management to 131 individuals and families for housing, food, household expenses and staffing to support case management
- $2,500 to LIFE Animal Rescue to replace fencing and lighting for the animal shelter
- $70,200 to United Policyholders for a fire recovery coordinator position and disaster recovery toolkit and online resource
- $20,000 to Upper Ojai Relief for trailer and materials expense
- $5,000 to Casa Pacifica for evacuation expenses related to the fire
- $7,500 to Conejo Hospice for support groups for fire survivors
- $15,000 to Conejo Valley Senior Concerns to provide scholarships for adult day care, meals and necessary support
- $247,700 to Interface Children and Family Services for long-term disaster recovery group infrastructure, facilitator, data systems coordinator, and overhead
- $20,000 to Oakbrook Park Chumash Indian Corporation for a utility vehicle to assist with rebuilding efforts
- $20,000 to Santa Monica Mountains Fund for rebuilding bridges on Backbone Trail
- $25,000 to Westminster Free Clinic for bilingual mental health services and basic needs assistance.
Please remind all nonprofit organizations responding to the needs from the fires to complete and submit their brief application at www.vccf.org. Organizations can submit more than one time as needs arise.
That’s it for now. Please keep in touch!
Best,
Vanessa