Building Stronger Organizations Through Collaboration and Innovation
In 2019, we launched a unique partnership with two other funders, First 5 Sonoma County and the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Sonoma County, to launch Resilient Organizations: Sustainable, Impactful, Effective (ROSIE). The ROSIE program was established to provide...
Staff Appreciation, Meet Annette Williams
CFSC Staff Appreciation! Originally from Chicago, Annette lived in San Jose for 17 years before moving to Sonoma County to trade in her high-tech lifestyle for philanthropic management. Annette is a big believer in the power of community. She began her...
Leaving a Legacy: Taya Levine on finding community in Healdsburg
During the last stretch of her thirty-year career as a self-proclaimed “international workaholic,” Taya Levine left her then home base of Arlington, Virginia and made her way west to Sonoma County. Born and raised in Fremont, California—which was then an agricultural...
Staff Appreciation, Meet Ariana Diaz de Leon
CFSC Staff Appreciation Time! Ariana always knew that her career goals would be centered around social work. However, after being exposed to the emotionally heavy and intense work that goes into social work, Ariana switched paths and developed a love and passion for...
Staff Appreciation, Meet Emily Johnson
Staff Appreciation Time! For Emily, the wildfires that struck the community in 2017, served as a call to action. As a way to give back to her community, Emily fell into the world of nonprofits at CFSC. Here, she was able to provide support to people back in 2017 and...
CPI: Supporting Families Throughout the Pandemic
When Robin Bowen, Executive Director at Child Parent Institute (CPI) in Santa Rosa, first called her staff together to discuss the impact COVID-19 would have on the organization, she—like many others—wasn’t expecting the pandemic’s duration would last this long. “We...
Staff Appreciation, Meet Tiny Torrez
Staff Appreciation Time! Tiny’s first-hand experience volunteering and receiving direct resources from nonprofit organizations like Catholic Charities and One Justice, introduced her to the world of nonprofits. Working at Community Foundation Sonoma County has allowed...
Healdsburg Forever: Shifting to Meet Community Needs in a Time of Crisis
Fundraising can be tricky during a local disaster like a wildfire or flood. It can be even trickier during a global pandemic that spans an entire year and counting. COVID-19 and successive years of wildfires hit the Healdsburg and Geyserville communities hard. With...
Breaking barriers and making an impact: Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County
One year into the pandemic, Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County (CAP) is still working tirelessly to meet the changing and growing needs of those most marginalized. While staff continually adapts to working and connecting with clients remotely, Assistant...
Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund: supporting the Valley through a time of crisis
In June 2020, about 10 Sonoma Valley civic leaders gathered in a backyard to discuss the future of Sonoma Valley. Roughly three months into the pandemic, the group was worried: How would small local businesses survive shelter-in-place orders? How would those who were...
IsoCare: helping people isolate and quarantine safely
When Elece Hempel, the Executive Director of Petaluma People Services Center (PPSC), first realized the pandemic would impact the organization’s services, she met with seniors who frequent their Senior Café. Although she assured them meals would still be available...
Legal Aid: Pursuing justice for Journey’s End Clients three years after the fire
When Legal Aid of Sonoma County set out to assist residents of the Journey's End mobile home park after the 2017 fires, they didn't realize how much of a fight they'd be in for. Achieving a settlement for their clients was a lengthy and arduous process. Still, with...
Alliance Medical Center: beginning the push towards ending the pandemic
Founded in 1971 by physicians concerned about migrant healthcare, Healdsburg’s Alliance Medical Center now has four healthcare clinics in Healdsburg and Windsor. Annually, they provide medical, dental, behavioral, and wellness services to over 12,000 patients in the...
Meet our 2020-2021 Interns: Diana, Maria, and Rosa
We were thrilled to welcome three new interns to our team this fall! Diana Ortiz, Maria Sosa Ramos, and Rosa Colin Vasquez help support our Communications, Philanthropic Planning, and Community Impact teams and are learning a ton on the job. This internship program...
California Homemakers Association: activating volunteers to help domestic workers and service workers
Erica Diamond began volunteering with California Homemakers Association ten years ago after witnessing the problems and suffering in Sonoma County’s low-income communities. “I wanted to do everything that I can to address the root causes of poverty,” she says. “And I...