The McCune Foundation has awarded more than $350,000 for community organizing and social justice projects in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Groups in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria are among 12 organizations that received grants in November to organize residents in voicing their concerns about tenant rights, mass transit needs, neighborhood safety and other vital issues.

“During these challenging times, it is even more critical for those who are economically and politically disenfranchised to have a voice in shaping public policies that affect them,” said Sara Miller McCune, the foundation’s president and founder. “Organizations receiving support from the McCune Foundation have had many successes such as gaining mental health services for a small community and securing more government funding for buses.”

Grant dollars provided by the McCune Foundation will pay for operating expenses, salaries for community organizers and other program expenses.

Grass-roots organizations that meet the foundation’s funding guidelines and that are interested in being considered for a grant may submit a letter of inquiry by the next deadline, Jan. 15. Click here for more information.

Grants Awarded in November

» Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County Inc.: $36,000 for One Step A La Vez, a youth committee to expand the voice for social change in Fillmore and Piru through grass-roots activism, leadership and community organizing.

» Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE): $20,000 for Arts for Action to support operating expenses, program costs and salaries for a community organizer and program coordinator.

» Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST): $15,000 a year for two years for capacity building through hiring of a part-time development director to secure new donors and new board members.

» Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST): $30,000 for Alliance for Sustainable and Equitable Regional Transportation (ASERT) to provide operating support for a regional transportation alliance to promote public transportation and organize public activism among a diverse constituency of transit users.

» La Hermandad Hank Lacayo Youth & Family Center: $46,000 for operating expenses for grass-roots organizing and organizational leadership activities among working-class immigrants in Ventura County.

» Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project: $35,000 a year for two years for operating expenses, including staffing, to support community organizing work among indigenous Oaxacan farmworkers in Ventura County.

» Santa Barbara Council on Research & Education: $35,000 a year for two years for operating and program expenses to support community organizing around social justice and environmental issues throughout Santa Barbara County.

» Trinity Episcopal Church, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice: $15,000 a year for two years for Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), Santa Barbara, to fund operating support of a grass-roots interfaith association working to build partnerships to expand its scope in responding to issues of economic justice.

» Ventura County Community Foundation, Social Justice Fund for Ventura County: $25,000 for capacity building for the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County, including an endowment drive for the Social Justice Fund and educational outreach to grass-roots groups and donors.

Second-Year Funding for Grants Awarded November 2007

» Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE): $50,000 a year for two years for general operating support for economic and social justice programs, with emphasis on development of a regional power organization of allied community, labor, faith and environmental organizations.

» The Foundation for Educational & Employment Resources Development Inc. (FEERD/Café on A), Community Café Organizing for Empowerment and Equity (CORE): $30,000 a year for two years for expanded grassroots organizing efforts for community action and civic engagement by neighborhood groups in the Oxnard area.

» Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indigena Oaxaqueño, Naa Xini: Community Health and Civic Participation of Indigenous Migrants: $25,000 a year for two years to promote the civic participation and empowerment of the Oaxacan community in Santa Maria and create a sustainable group of leaders.

Claudia Armann is executive director of the McCune Foundation.