As part of our support of the STRONG funder collaborative, EBCF is highlighting community partners doing transformative work in East Contra Costa County. Learn more about the program, which has invested $3.5 million in East Contra Costa County over a decade of partnership and collaboration.
Every Monday at Healthy Hearts Institute in Pittsburg, Ray Hart and his three-person staff check in with stretching, meditation, and healing circles. They take a moment to imagine joy filling their hearts, share a story weighing on their mind, or watch raindrops roll down a windowpane.
The organization is dedicated to ensuring healthy and socially rich lives for the local community, but Hart sometimes finds his own wellbeing stretched thin with the demands of running the nonprofit. Often, Monday morning is the quiet in an ongoing storm.
With people like Hart in mind, East Contra Costa STRONG Collaborative Fund (STRONG) started a multi-year funding pilot in 2024 to support capacity building for grassroots and nonprofit organizations in East Contra Costa County. The Community Advised Grantmaking (CAG) program provides each grantee flexible, unrestricted funding of $25,000 to help address their biggest needs, whether for back-office support, hiring new team members — or simply resting.
Since 2015, STRONG has invested more than $3.5 million in East Contra Costa County. The region is underserved within Contra Costa County, which already receives less than three percent of the Bay Area’s philanthropic funding.
Each of STRONG’s strategy areas focuses on creating an equitable, thriving future for East Contra Costa County. Through STRONG’s approach to capacity building and wellness, grassroots organizations are able to bring their needs to the CAG table and access flexible funding. Learn from three grantees — Bridge Builders, VCRC, and Healthy Hearts — about how this funding makes a difference, and creates sustainability for the future:
Bridge Builders: Building the Back Office So the Work Can Grow
Bridge Builders to a New Generation, based in Antioch, provides a full continuum of support for students to help them grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Its 30 employees manage programs at 17 school sites in Contra Costa County.
The organization used STRONG funding to build its back office, including hiring a CPA as controller. The team is now better prepared for a larger financial audit that could be required for county contract awards. It also invested in an HR director, labor-law-compliant policies, and a stronger leadership team.
Shamawn Wright, who leads Bridge Builders, says the goal is sustainability, not just a bigger budget. With the additional funding support, staff can also document their work with students consistently, so records and institutional knowledge build over time. The funding creates layers of stability throughout the organization.
“When you have great leadership from the top, down to the program coordinators who work directly with the students, you’re going to see a huge transition,” Wright added.
VCRC: Rest and Restoration for a Team in Transition
When Village Community Resource Center (VCRC) received a $25,000 wellness grant from STRONG, it spent the money on its own team: a staff trip to Disneyland and paid time to rest.
VCRC serves East Contra Costa County, where services are scarce, and mental health is among the greatest unmet needs. Its afterschool program, parent advocacy, and promotoras, who act as a bridge between residents and service providers, reach adults, children, and teens. The organization turns 30 next year, built on a legacy of supporting the community.
Executive Director Dro Abrahamian says VCRC has grown from a “bare knuckles operation” to one that consistently brings in over a million dollars. Previous staff members and leadership struggled with burnout, and Abrahamian has focused on stabilizing the organization so it can grow again.
The weeklong trip was a way to recover during that transition and prepare for a busy upcoming grant reporting season. Staff chose to travel without their families to focus on rest and restoration, and their time, travel, and dinners were covered by the grant. Staff who stayed home received a paid holiday. For some staff members, the trip introduced new experiences: one staff member had never been on a plane, and another had never stayed in a hotel.
Selena Martinez, health and wellness manager at VCRC, said teammates were able to see each other as “actually human instead of just a coworker,” which she hopes will help them navigate burnout in the future.
“We help the community, but sometimes we forget that we’re part of the community,” Martinez said.
Since its founding, wellness has become central to VCRC’s work. Programs include Serenamente, a stress-management workshop, and Bailando por la Salud, a dance and exercise program with live Banda music, coming to a Brentwood farmers market this November. VCRC also organizes annual bicycle and pajama giveaways and free food bags for the holidays.
Healthy Hearts: Caring for the Team, Training the Community
At Healthy Hearts Institute, flexible funding means Hart, the executive director, no longer has to singlehandedly manage the entire operation.
Hart once wrote grants and reports, repaired farm machinery, coordinated programs, engaged donors, and handled finances personally, until there was money to hire a bookkeeper. Hart, who also has a background in Silicon Valley, said it was no longer scalable to handle the business alone.
Through STRONG’s funding, the organization now also has a community advisory committee of five residents, with a goal of seven. Members are paid a $50 stipend per meeting for two-hour meetings held twice a month.
“It’s a low-income community, and a hundred dollars goes a long way,” Hart said. “It lifts a burden for them.”
Healthy Hearts began in 2017 as a plot of land with ten raised beds. Today, it’s a 2-acre farm where community members learn the full cycle of agriculture, from planting and irrigation to harvesting, distribution, and composting.
The organization is gearing up for its holiday celebration with gifts for children, food vendors, arts and crafts, pony rides, and Santa Claus visits. In the coming months, Hart also plans to train farmers to sell watermelon juice from their own harvest so residents can drive their own economic mobility.
Previously, Hart found himself scrambling for small grants just for the funding to be narrowly directed to a specific program area. Though the need for fundraising is still acute, he’s able to begin looking toward the future with support from STRONG.
“When you have capacity building grants or general operating grants, you can move the money where you need to move it,” Hart said.
Why Capacity and Wellness Matter
When community-based organizations can invest in their own foundations, they’re rested, creative, and motivated. Ultimately, they do more for the people they serve.
Want to help organizations like these keep growing? Contact Anitra Smith at asmith@eastbaycf.org.
EBCF is proud to support this work. In the months ahead, we’ll keep sharing stories from across East Contra Costa. Stay tuned.
STRONG is an invitation-only fund. If you have opportunities we should know about, contact us.