The McCune Foundation, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, has awarded more than $360,000 for community organizing and social justice initiatives in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.
Fifteen grants were made to support organizing efforts by farmworkers, renters, parents, youths and others seeking to improve their lives and neighborhoods.
“The vision that drives the work of the McCune Foundation is to strengthen the fabric of communities in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties so that the residents are capable of working together to improve the conditions of everyday life,” said Sandra Ball-Rokeach, one of the foundation’s founding board members.
In 2010, the foundation provided 32 grants totaling more than $710,000. Grassroots 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 on Jan. 14, 2011. Click here for more information about applying for a grant.
The McCune Foundation was established in 1990 by Sara Miller McCune and the late George McCune. The foundation makes grants in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. Its goal is to build social capital through empowerment and engagement of citizens at the grassroots level.
Grants Awarded in Fall 2010
» Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County Inc.: $20,000 for an organizer for One Step a La Vez, a youth committee to expand the voice for social change in Fillmore and Piru through grassroots activism, leadership and community organizing.
» Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE): $50,000 of second-year funding for general operating support for social, economic and environmental justice programs focused on creating grassroots power, policy reform and systemic change in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
» CAUSE (Arts for Action): $30,000 to support youth-based community organizing, including the Paint Not Prison program, Youth Councils in Oxnard and Youth Center rent.
» CAUSE (Ventura County Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice): $40,000 a year for two years for a coalition of faith organizations advocating for immigrant rights, farmworker housing, access to health care and economic justice.
» Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST): $20,000 for staff and a Spanish-speaking organizer to mobilize residents of Santa Barbara’s Eastside to advocate for pedestrian safety and better transit service.
» El Centrito Family Learning Centers: $35,000 for Padres Promotores Education Project, which trains, organizes and empowers Oxnard parents to address educational inequities in their children’s schools and take leadership roles in school committees. Funds also will support organizational capacity building.
» La Hermandad Hank Lacayo Youth & Family Center: $20,000 for grassroots organizing and leadership training among working-class immigrants in Ventura County to promote social justice for immigrants, and $10,000 for capacity building.
» Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project: $45,000 a year for two years for general operating support for community organizing work among indigenous Oaxacan farm workers in Ventura County.
» PUEBLO (Rental Housing Roundtable): $15,000 for a tenant organizer for a coalition of community groups involved in the Justice for Renters campaign, which organizes renters in Santa Barbara County to advocate for renter rights, protect availability of rental units and promote cooperative ownership.
» Regents of the University of California (Mexican Immigrant Labor and Producers’ Association): $15,000 for planning and training costs to empower an association of Mexican immigrant farmers in Santa Maria.
» Santa Barbara County Action Network: $25,000 to support community organizing for social justice and environmental issues, including the Lompoc Livable Community & Civic Engagement Program and ongoing advocacy in Santa Maria.
» Ventura County Community Foundation (Social Justice Fund for Ventura County): $25,000 of second-year funding for capacity building, including an endowment drive for the Social Justice Fund and educational outreach to grassroots groups and donors.
Technical Assistance Grants
» CAUSE (Ventura County Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice): $6,000 for a fund development plan
» Center for Third World Organizing: $3,500 for community action training in Oxnard
» Santa Barbara County Action Network: $7,230 for board and staff training on fund development
— Claudia Armann is executive director of the McCune Foundation.