It was a blow to La Jolla Country Day student Ainhoa Leal when they realized they wouldn’t be able to afford attendance at any of the four-year colleges and universities they were accepted to, including their top choice, DePaul University in Chicago.
Still, The San Diego Foundation Community Scholars Initiative scholarship recipient Leal persevered, thanks to the support of their family, school staff and mentorship through the Barrio Logan College Institute (BLCI) and MANA de San Diego (MANA)’s Hermanitas program.
Thankfully, Leal’s BLCI counselor brought up Grossmont College, a community college in San Diego’s East County with a well-regarded transfer track and support services for Latinx and LGBTQ+ students. While it wasn’t the four-year university they had initially envisioned, Leal acknowledged that it was still reaching the goal others had hoped for them — they just took another route.
This story, along with the countless others like it, demonstrates the importance of U.S. community foundations, which are uniquely situated to improve their regions by enacting innovative solutions and creating powerful partnerships.
From November 12 – 18, we celebrate Community Foundation Week, a time when we can share and reflect on stories of local impact and human connection over the past year. Though you may not yet know your local community foundation, you’ve likely felt its impact.
The San Diego Foundation and more than 750 other community foundations across the country help to bring donors and residents together. In a way that few other institutions can, community foundations work to support the efforts that will help the places we call home continue to flourish and grow.
Many community foundations throughout the country were first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic through the creation of Response Funds. These funds were established to tackle the immediate needs of local organizations and communities that the crisis had impacted.
In our fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, we granted a record-breaking $104 million, the majority of which went to local nonprofit organizations. With needs ranging from food insecurity to childcare, from accessing the outdoors to supporting trauma-informed counseling, our donors, fund holders and partners heeded the call to service.
The community foundation field is one of the fastest-growing philanthropic sectors in the U.S. Here are five facts to help you understand the impact of community foundations:
During Community Foundation Week, we celebrated the charitable work of you and your fellow San Diegans on National Philanthropy Day.
We were proud to partner with other local community foundations – Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego and Rancho Santa Fe Foundation – to sponsor the AFP San Diego Chapter National Philanthropy Day event. And we were honored to receive the Outstanding Grantmaking Organization 2021 award.
On August 9, 2022, we awarded $838,704 in Opening the Outdoors grants to 24 nonprofit organizations that offer equitable access to outdoor spaces in San Diego County.
“San Diego Foundation is proud to once again support its partners committed to increasing community-driven efforts to enhance accessible outdoor space, encourage youth to learn more through hands-on education and create the next generation of environmental stewards in the San Diego region,” said Christiana DeBenedict, SDF Director of Environment Initiatives.
This year’s grantees will help address these inequities and enhance access to the outdoors throughout San Diego County.
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