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October 29, 2007 - Oakland, California – Charitable giving from the East Bay Community Foundation and its donors reached an all-time high of $36.7 million during the Foundation’s 2006-07 year.
According to East Bay Community Foundation President Nicole Taylor, the Foundation and its donors made 2,321 grants valued at $36.7 million to non-profit organizations and causes during the year, compared to 2,267 grants totaling $26.8 million during the 2005-06 year.
"As our charitable assets have grown consistently, so has our grantmaking," said Taylor. "Because of the generosity of our fund holders, we have been increasing our grantmaking consistently from about $14 million four years ago."
The Foundation manages charitable funds with a total value of more than $285 million.
Carla Dartis, the Foundation’s Vice President of Community Investment, noted that grants focusing on developing livable communities in the East Bay were among the Foundation’s most important funding targets during the year.
Livable Communities
"One funding priority continues to be efforts related to our "Livable Communities Initiative" aimed at influencing public policy in support of sustainable growth and development that improves the quality of life throughout the East Bay," said Dartis.
"Our total contributions to livable communities during the 2006-07 fiscal year amounted to $268,842 and over the past few years, our own investments have succeeded in generating $30.4 million in grants and investments from government and other foundations for livable communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties."
Richmond Project in Iron Triangle
Five grants directly or indirectly supported the Nystrom United Revitalization Effort (NURVE) - a broad, innovative and collaborative community-based effort in Richmond to revitalize 40 acres of the Santa Fe and Coronado neighborhoods in the Iron Triangle area of Richmond.
NURVE’s goal is to modernize and renovate Nystrom Elementary School and other educational facilities such as the Richmond College Prep Charter School, the Maritime Center, the Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Community Center, and public housing units all situated in the Nystrom neighborhood so these essential services and assets create and serve as a vibrant, safe and supportive community hub in support of local residents’ needs.
The project is an historic partnership among the Foundation, local residents, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the Richmond Children’s Foundation, the City of Richmond, the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) including Nystrom Elementary School, Contra Costa County, the Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park, and others.
Together, these partners have already raised $32 million towards improving key assets in the community and implementing a comprehensive community vision.
In addition to contributing $100,000 of in-kind staffing services to NURVE, NURVE-related grants for the 2006-07 fiscal year included: |
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$20,000 to Pacific Institute for Studies in Development to develop benchmark measurements of community sustainability – economic vitality, strength of social institutions, state of the environment – of selected Richmond neighborhoods. |
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$15,000 to the land-use planning firm of Moore, Iacofano, Goltsman, Inc. for services to provide support for key community and planning meetings; |
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$15,000 for general support of Urban Habitat to coordinate the participation of the general public and elected officials in Richmond for land-use planning projects. |
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$10,000 to Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to build support for the conversion of abandoned railway lines in Richmond into hiking and biking trails. |
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$10,000 to the Ma’at Youth Academy to engage Richmond Youth in designing sustainable communities focusing on the Iron Triangle neighborhood. |
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| Grants for Transit-Oriented Development |
| Seven additional grants totaling $79,500 were given to support work advocating Transit Oriented Development in the East Bay. Transit-Oriented Developments completed, underway or coming soon in the East Bay include projects in: |
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Downtown Hayward near the Hayward BART and Amtrak stations; |
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Jack London Square in Oakland near the C.L. Dellums Amtrak Station, the Oakland Ferry Terminal, and Lake Merritt BART Station; |
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Pleasant Hill near the Pleasant Hill BART Station; |
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Richmond near BART, Amtrak, AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit stations; and |
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Uptown Oakland near AC Transit and BART stations. |
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| The Transit-Oriented Development grants were: |
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| 1. |
$20,000 to the Transportation and Land Use Coalition to ensure community participation in transit-oriented development in Pittsburg, San Pablo, San Leandro, and Hayward. |
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$17,000 to Strategic Economics for analysis and development of tools locally tailored to creating mixed-use housing as part of transit-oriented development in San Leandro. |
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$12,500 to Re-Connecting America to develop a library of best practices for use in planning transit oriented development in the East Bay and throughout the Bay Area |
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$10,000 to Congregations Organizing for Renewal in San Leandro to support engaging the public in transit-oriented development in downtown San Leandro. |
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$10,000 to the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California to provide expert testimony and community organizing in support of transit-oriented development projects. |
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$5,000 to the City of Pittsburg to develop photo simulations showing proposed changes related to transit-oriented development in the vicinity of Railroad Avenue. |
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8.$5,000 to the City of San Pablo to support community planning along the older portions of 23rd Street. |
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| Other grants supporting the development of livable communities were: |
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| 1. |
$15,000 to the Asian Pacific Network for evaluation, monitoring, and communications work relating to community benefits of the Oak to 9th Project in Oakland; |
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$5,000 to the City of San Pablo for planning of the 23rd Street project; |
The entirety of the Foundation’s grant making from its own endowment and a large chunk of giving during the year by donors holding charitable funds at the Foundation go directly to non-profit organizations serving Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Of the total $36.7 million in grants during the year from the Foundation and its donors, 67% of the total, or $24.5 million, went to East Bay causes. |
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