Community Impact Fund | Details

The Community Impact Fund was established by The Community Foundation to meet the needs of each community served by the Foundation, as determined by our grants committee and with final approval by our full Board of Directors. The grants are awarded through a competitive grant process each year. This year, grants went to 23 organizations across the two-county area.

• Alzheimer’s Association, Inland Empire Office, Healthy Body Healthy Mind Program
• Assistance League of San Bernardino, Dr. Earl R. Crane Children’s Dental Health Center.
• Barstow Employment Specialized Training (B.E.S.T.) Opportunities, Inc.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.
• Clinica De Salud Del Pueblo, Inc., Mecca and Blythe Health Project.
• Coachella Valley Unified School District, 21st Century Community Learning Centers.
• Coalition for Common Ground, Community-T-Centers. 
• Coots Care Group, La Quinta.
• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Riverside County, Inc.  
• Foundation for Community and Family Health, Corona.
• Girl Scouts—Spanish Trails Council, Community Based Outreach Program.
• Hesperia Unified School District, The Clothes Hanger program.
• House of Ruth, Inc., Domestic Violence Awareness Campaign for the Inland Valley Faith-Based Community.
• Legal Aid Society of San Bernardino, Legal Clinic.
• Loma Linda University Medical Center, Norton Neighborhoods Initiative.
• Loma Linda University, Operation Jessica.
• Michelle’s Place, Breast Cancer Research Center.
• Miracles in Recovery, Inc., Save the Babies Program.
• Samaritan Counseling Center, Behavior Education and Management Services (BEAMS) Program.
• San Bernardino Sexual Assault Services, Inc. (SBSAS), Volunteer Training for Courtroom Advocates.
• Smile Factory for the Children of the Desert, Kindergarten Oral Hygiene Intervention Program.
• Teen Line—Center for the Study of Young People.
• Victory Community Church Operation Rescue, the Green Room Project.

Desert Legacy Grants promote conservation and understanding of California desert ecosystems

From big, fierce-looking Camel Spiders, to ancient rock formations in Death Valley, to the lovely and delicate Woolly Star flower, the flora, fauna, and geology of the California deserts will receive some extra attention from graduate students thanks to recent grants from The Community Foundation’s Desert Legacy Fund. The fund, established by an anonymous donor, supports graduate student scientific research that contributes to the awareness and conservation of desert parks, wildernesses, and other ecologically significant open spaces in the California desert.

Over $15,000 was awarded in May to six research programs that support the goals of the Desert Legacy Fund. The grants are given to the universities sponsoring the graduate students’ research projects. The winning grants were recommended through a competitive process by a committee, and selected with the final approval of the full Board of Directors of The Community Foundation.

A $2,350 grant was awarded to Colorado State University for Tharina Bird’s study of the Camel Spider (Solifugae). Members of this leggy, creepy-crawly order—who are not actually spiders but are in the same family—have wandered into traps set by the U.S. Geological Survey in San Diego-area deserts for other projects. These captured specimens have been preserved and stored in a lab. The grant will allow the researcher to visit the lab to study, identify, and sort these specimens. The Camel Spider is an important indicator for the overall health of desert ecosystems, and the study will add to the understanding of the San Diego-area desert ecosystems.  

A $1,698 grant was awarded to Loma Linda University for Torrey Nyborg’s three-year study of the remote Copper Canyon area of Death Valley National Park. This canyon, which is closed to the public, contains fossil tracks of long-extinct animals. Through mapping, rock analysis, and geologic age determinations, the study’s goal is to reconstruct a significant time period when camel, horse, dog, cat, and mastodon, and shoreline birds lived in Death Valley. Another aspect of the project is to analyze the effectiveness of current land management of the area and make recommendations for future preservation of this unique geologic formation.

A $4,000 grant was awarded to the University of California, Riverside for Robert Steers’ study of the impact of fires on creosote bush scrub vegetation. The results of this study will help the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies develop restoration strategies that will encourage native plant regrowth and prevent invasive grass and other non-native plants after fires.

A $2,403 grant was awarded to Claremont Graduate University to support Sarah De Groot’s ongoing field study of the Woolly Star flower (Eriastrum). Her study will use molecular and geographic data to discover patterns of variation, species biology, ecology, and life history of this native wildflower that has never been thoroughly studied.

Field of Interest Funds | Details

Victims of domestic abuse, indigent and foster children—especially those with special needs—wheelchair users, and people suffering from mental illness are among those who benefited from grants from The Community Foundation’s “Field of Interest” funds. A total of almost $170,000 was given to 17 nonprofit organizations in Riverside and San Bernardino County from the five funds. Field of Interest funds are established by donors who wish to support a specific type of cause or a specific geographic area.

Seraphim Fund - Aids women and children, including the economically disadvantaged, victims of domestic abuse, and those suffering from physical or mental illness or substance abuse.

• Camp Alandale
• Lutheran Social Services of Southern California (LSSSC)
• Mental Health Systems, Inc.
• Option House, Inc.
• Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center (RARCC)
• Victor Valley Domestic Violence, Inc.

Fred and Eva V. Stebler Fund – Provides for the treatment and care of indigent children in Riverside County, with a strong emphasis on children with special needs. 

• Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH)
• Operation SafeHouse, Inc.
• Walden Family Services

James Bernard and Mildred Jordan Tucker Fund- Benefits wheelchair users.

• Community Access Center
• Orange Empire Railway Museum
• Pomona Valley Workshop
• Stroke Recovery Center

Bank of America-Hemet Community Benefit Fund – Benefits the residents of the city of Hemet.

• Central County United Way
• Hemet Hospice Volunteers, Inc.

Irene S. Rockwell Fund - Benefits the residents of the city of Perris.

• Perris Valley Historical & Museum Association
• YMCA of Riverside City and County

Advancing the Arts in the Coachella Valley | Details

From introducing young children to art through hands-on workshops, to providing instruments and music instruction to low income elementary and middle school students, to creating the first performing arts center in the east valley—arts programs in the Coachella Valley were given a boost with $50,000 in grants to eight organizations. The grants are part of a two-year statewide initiative funded by The James Irvine Foundation to strengthen and promote the arts—theater, dance, music, and visual arts such as painting and sculpture—and make them accessible to everyone.

• Mexican Cultural Institute
• S.C.R.A.P. Gallery
• Coachella Valley Symphony/Buddy Rogers Youth Symphony
• Indio Performing Arts Center
• La Quinta Playhouse
• The Steinway Society of Riverside County and the Coachella Valley
• Cathedral City Public Arts Commission
• The Virginia Waring International Piano Competition

Advancing the Arts in the Temecula Valley | Details

From an international jazz festival, to a staging of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” to a young people’s music competition—arts programs in the Temecula Valley were given a boost with $40,000 in grants to seven organizations. The grants are part of a two-year statewide initiative funded by The James Irvine Foundation to strengthen and promote the arts—theater, dance, music, and visual arts such as painting and sculpture—and make them accessible to everyone.

• Musicians Workshop
• Murrieta Repertory Theatre
• Golden Valley Music Society
• Broadway High Children’s Theatre Arts Academy
• Dorland Mountain Arts Colony
• Inland Valley Symphony
• Temecula Valley Art League

Willmas Trust | Details

Nineteen local nonprofit organizations that serve the High Desert were given a boost when they received grants totaling $225,000.  The greatest number of grants went to programs that serve at-risk and low-income youth and their families. Grants for Meals on Wheels and food bank programs will help feed the hungry, while other programs serve the deaf community and other underserved residents of this region. The Willmas Charitable Trust was established in 2002 by the Willmas family, who wanted to leave a permanent legacy to benefit the Victor Valley communities and their residents. Anthony and Edna Willmas lived in Wisconsin early in their married life and migrated to California in the mid-1930s. The couple both worked, they lived modestly, and invested prudently. Upon retirement, the Willmases moved to Victorville, supported many local charitable causes, and laid the groundwork for establishing a trust in perpetuity to help fund needs in and around Victorville. The Trust became effective with the passing of Mrs. Edna Willmas in August 2002.

• Adelanto Community Tool Box
• Assistance League of Victor Valley
• Boys and Girls Club of the Victor Valley
• High Desert Mariachi Juvenil
• High Desert Meals on Wheels
• High Desert Resource Network
• High Desert Youth Center
• New Life-Line Food Ministry
• San Bernardino County Museum Association—Museum on the Road
• Senior Companion Program: City of San Bernardino
• Umbrella Latch Key Program
• Victor Valley Community Dental Service Program
• Yucca Loma Family Center
• Benefit Everyone, Assist Recreation & Sports, Inc.
• Burning Bush Church Community Development Tutoring & Computer Learning Center
• Catholic Charities of San Bernardino/Riverside
• High Desert Domestic Violence Program, Inc.
• Mojave Deaf Services
• Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Center

Idyllwild Community Fund | Details

Five local nonprofit organizations that serve the Idyllwild received grants totaling $15,257 from the Idyllwild Community Fund, a geographically based fund established in 1997 by donors who wanted to leave a permanent legacy to benefit the community and its residents. They set up the fund with The Community Foundation, which manages and invests the assets and disburses the returns annually through a competitive grant proposal process to nonprofit groups that serve the Idyllwild community. The grant recipients are selected by an advisory board of local representatives and then submitted for approval by the full board of directors of The Community Foundation.

• Friends of the Idyllwild Branch Library
• Idyllwild School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)
• Mile High Radio Club
• Mountain Communities Fire Safe Council
• Mountain Disaster Preparedness