It’s all about caring for our neighbors. That’s how Carl Crider—an ordained United Methodist Church minister, consultant, and philanthropist—and his wife, retired marriage and family therapist Carol Clause, view their commitment to supporting community led organizations and initiatives, including the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) and its ambitious Global Village project bordering City Heights.
The Global Village project will include 144 affordable apartments—more than a third of them four-bedroom units for larger and multigenerational families—along with a cultural center housing more than a dozen nonprofits, a health and wellness center, a child development center, and an outdoor plaza.
The project is led by PANA, a nonprofit that advocates for policy reforms including the protection of immigrant and refugee rights. Early gifts of more than $10 million secured the 2.2-acre site debt-free and funded design and approvals. PANA is now raising a final $15 million in philanthropy, which unlocks the public financing behind it. Construction is slated to begin in the spring of 2028. Carl and Carol have a partnership of more than a decade with SDF through their Donor Advised Fund. PANA contributions to date include that fund, a San Diego Foundation-administered SANDAG grant and an SDF Unity grant.
“I’m grateful to have even played a small role,” Carl said about his work in helping PANA transform the Global Village project from a dream into a reality.
A small role might be an understatement. After all, it was Carl who—while serving on the PANA board of directors—volunteered countless hours negotiating the purchase and managing contracts with professionals assessing the site. Consultations with community leaders were constant.
“The community involvement was exactly what our board had envisioned,” he said. “And because of that, this vision ended up going from a refugee hub to a global village.”
It’s a long way from his boyhood home in a rural community of no more than 400 people in rural northeast Arkansas. His philanthropy and Christian faith are based on the teachings of John Wesley, considered the founder of the Methodist movement, who—according to tradition—said: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
Said PANA Founder and Executive Director Ramla Sahid, who was born in Somalia and came to the United States as a young child with her family and grew up in City Heights: “Carl and Carol have been quiet giants in our community. They are inspiring leaders who stand shoulder to shoulder with our immigrant and refugee communities, serving on the boards of PANA, Women’s Empowerment International, the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and philanthropically supporting those organizations and others like the International Rescue Committee, Pillars of the Community, and so much more.”
After becoming a Methodist minister, Carl also worked in the 1970s as a U.S. Navy training consultant specializing in Counter Racism and Cultural Expression.
Carl’s work with the San Diego refugee and immigrant community was sparked when Carol, employed as a marriage and family therapist with the YMCA of San Diego County at the time, became a mentor to a Somali Bantu family. Carl, then a consultant, was active with the ACLU when another volunteer introduced him to PANA.
The couple was introduced to SDF by financial advisors who urged the pair to consider opening a donor-advised fund with the nonprofit. “Supporting the work the Foundation does in San Diego is important to us. It makes me feel good that our dollars will continue to contribute to the health and welfare of where we lived for 49 years,” said Carl, who recently moved with his wife to be closer to a daughter in Chicago.
He has left more than a legacy behind.
“Global Village would simply not be a reality without Carl, who stepped in on behalf of the board to support me and spearhead, with due diligence, the acquisition of the site,” Sahid said. “Post acquisition, he has been a thoughtful partner ensuring board members received timely memos and presentations to keep them apprised of activities and learnings, and supported them in making informed decisions about the project.”
By supporting grassroots, community-led advocacy; by investing directly in refugee organizations; and by contributing their governance and executive expertise as active board members, Carl and Carol’s impact will live on for generations.
