—Generosity Drives Community Healing —
Fire Recovery Fund Update
Big Basin trail crew, 2022. Photo by BT Washburn.
Office supplies
Circular saws
Arborist saws
Sanders
Wood chippers
Steam cleaners
Pressure washers
Sprinkler supplies
Water pipes and tanks

These are just some of what’s needed to get livelihoods as landscapers and contractors started again after total loss. Or to finally make it through pre-clearance to obtain permits. Or in the very best cases, to start rebuilding houses. There are also the costs for quality disaster case managers, survivor resource fairs, and trauma counseling for struggling students in Bonny Doon and Davenport. 

Two years after the CZU fires, alongside our nonprofit partners, we continue to support the slow, complex, frustrating, painstaking, and often heartbreaking work of restoring property, rebuilding lives, and healing a community. 

Thanks to thousands of generous people, families, and businesses
that gave to the Fire Recovery Fund, we’ve awarded $2 million in grants
since August 2020. Many more rebuilding costs are being covered every month now that more permits are being sought.
Celebrating and Supporting Arts & Culture
Consuelo Alba, Executive Director of the Watsonville Film Festival, and community member Penny Rich, at the latest On the Table event.
What does local art and culture mean to you? For attendees at our most recent On the Table event celebrating local arts organizations, it brings joy, community, opportunity, beauty, education, and healing. 

Last month’s event featured leaders who nurture a local ecosystem of dance, music, film, and visual art. They spoke about how arts and culture are instrumental in creating spaces for expression and healing. They also talked about how arts & culture build an equitable and inclusive county that imbues both the audience and performers with a sense of representation and cultural pride. 
40th Anniversary Stories: Partners in Healing
Encompass Community Services has a long history of providing clients the opportunity to address challenges related to mental health and substance use in both outpatient and structured residential environments. The expanded Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center will be able to offer more personalized care that is accessible to all. 
With 40 programs spanning from early childhood education to counseling to substance use recovery, Encompass Community Services has guided youth, individuals, and families through life’s transitions and challenges with expertise and compassion for decades. And the gratitude runs deep. 

Since our founding in 1982, community members have given to Encompass often through their donor-advised funds, many out of thanks for how a program set a loved one’s life on the path to healing.

In April, we awarded Encompass a $40,000 community grant for the new Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center, a project to expand high-quality substance use disorder and mental health treatment services to 1,300 community members every year. [Read this Lookout story for more about how Sí Se Puede has helped people for generations.]  

With the opioid crisis right here at home, we want our community to be one where no more lives are lost and people seeking help are greeted with expertise and care. Sí Se Puede brings us one step closer to hope for families at this critical time.
Delivering on a Vision for a Community-Owned Hospital
Born and raised in the Pajaro Valley, our Board member Janet Heien has a lifetime of both good and sad memories at Watsonville Community Hospital where her own family members and friends were patients. “A hospital is such a vital part of any community,” she says. “It's a critical part of life for families to meet their needs for healthcare and well being.”

Janet was one of many donors who gave to our Watsonville Community Hospital Fund. Their generosity has enabled a $7 million contribution to the extraordinary effort to raise $67 million to purchase the “safety net hospital,” which provides care for people regardless of their ability to pay. 

Board member Kirk Schmidt, another donor to the WCH fund said, “Everyone knows that a community the size of the Pajaro Valley needs a full service hospital. With a new nonprofit structure, exceptionally competent management, and a local board of directors, we will be able to have a successful hospital for many years to come.”

We’re also providing a 60-day $5 million bridge loan to the County of Santa Cruz to fund the purchase of the hospital. Just to make this whole hospital purchasing effort even more intense, there was a drafting error in the State Budget Bill with language related to the State’s $25 million grant! This will require an amendment to the original State Budget Bill language, which is coming but not in time for the August 31st closing deadline. We’re so grateful that we can step in and provide this financing on favorable terms to see this landmark acquisition through.

This entire project is an extraordinary testimony to the generosity of our community and the strength of our region’s leaders. From Senator John Laird’s heroic work on Senate Bill 418 to establish the new health care district, to County Administrative Officer Carlos Palacios pulling together a team and resources, to Salud Para La Gente CEO Dori Rose Indra’s persistent work to keep all the pieces together, to Steven Salyer’s work to run the hospital, and so many more. It has taken many hands.
With gratitude for all you do,
Susan True, CEO
Credit: Devi Pride Photography
At the Community Foundation, we bring together local nonprofits, caring donors, and community leaders to benefit the people of Santa Cruz County, now and in the future.