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COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS | FUNDERS | MANAGING PARTNERS
COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS
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FACE OF YCF
Judy Gresser, who hails from Canada,
joined the Arizona Community Foundation in April of 2002 as
its Western Regional Manager with responsibility for its Yuma
affiliate. Judy comes to the community foundation world with
a background in business as president of a small chain of ethnic
restaurants. She welcomes the challenge of working in a brand
new field, and is particularly excited about the Border Philanthropy
Partnership. Judy welcomes each day that brings a new learning
experience.
Cristina Gonzales joined the Yuma Community Foundation August, 2006 as the US – Mexico Border PhilanthropyPartnership fellow. She is a graduate of Northern Arizona University-Yuma where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Social Work degree. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education. Cristina comes to her new position with a background in social and human services. She was employed by Ppep-Tec High School to assist at-risk students and, more recently, by Campesinos Sin Fronteras in Somerton, Arizona where she was the Assistant Program Director. In that capacity, Cristina oversaw the implementation of youth programs (diabetes, obesity and tobacco), HIV/AIDS prevention and suicide prevention programs. She also served as the administrator and program coordinator of STEPS to a Healthier Arizona.
OUR COMMUNITY
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION - Early steps have been taken to establish The Yuma County Regional School Readiness Partnership has been established in Yuma County. The Yuma Community Foundation has joined United Way of Yuma County and several other agencies in what will be a broad-based effort to change outcomes for young children and their families, to ensure that every child in Arizona starts school ready to succeed.
The Arizona Early Education Funds were established at the Arizona Community Foundation with funding partners statewide to help communities across Arizona build the quality and capacity of early care and education programs for children from birth to kindergarten. The funds were established with the support of the Governor and the Arizona School Readiness Board.
The Arizona Early Education Funds Advisory Board is committed to prioritizing resources to address the following outcomes:
- Improving the quality of child care and preschool
- Ensuring access to literacy for young children
- Providing linkages to health services
- Providing professional development opportunities to those who work with young children, birth to 5 years old.
In a perfect fit with this initiative, in October of 2006 a cross-border early education project was established.
Improving early education for the children of migrant workers and immigrants living on the Arizona-Mexico border has a cross-border solution. In October 2006, five educational institutions and community agencies in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, and Yuma County, Arizona met for the first time and established a unique partnership to improve early education for children of migrant workers and immigrants. This new initiative, “Children without Borders” or “Niños sin Fronteras,” is supported by the Yuma Community Foundation.
OUR SUCCESSES
A unique partnership between the Yuma Community Foundation, developer Jim Kerley and the Industrial Development Authority for the City of Yuma resulted in a gift of nearly $118,000 for the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. The story’s first chapter began when Dr. Coleman Furr of the Coleman Foundation, and other interested parties, established the Yuma Youth Fund at the Yuma Community Foundation. The second chapter adds the Kerley Construction Company. Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club board member Jim Kerley loves to build houses; that’s what he does best. Kerley believes in the club’s mission and is very interested in providing a source of income for them. A plan was conceived whereby Kerley Construction would build an :affordable house”, and then the profits from the sale of the house would be donated to the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. To accomplish this, it was necessary to develop a partnership.
First an appropriate building lot had to be identified and purchased. The search for a lot was successful. In fact, the secluded, treed lot proved to be large enough to support two affordable homes instead of one. Next the Industrial Development Authority of the City of Yuma (IDA) was asked if they would lend the project the money to purchase the lot. The IDA agreed, completing the third chapter of the story and attorney Wayne Benesch provided pro-bono legal services for the project. In the next step, a trust was opened at Yuma Title and Trust to hold both the IDA loan and funds from the Yuma Community Foundation’s Yuma Youth Fund to pay for construction costs associated with the project.
When completed, the two homes were sold, the IDA was paid back, and the Yuma Community Foundation funds were returned to the Yuma Youth Fund to await the next building project due to begin early 2008. Due to the ever increasing costs of construction, additional dollars were placed in the Yuma Youth Fund.
OUR HOPES
We believe in local philanthropy.
The South County area of Yuma
County is growing rapidly, and by some projections the small
town of San Luis, Arizona will overtake the city of Yuma in
size and population within the next twenty years. However, services
are currently not in place to handle such a population explosion.
It is the Yuma Community Foundation’s hope and mission
to bring attention to this situation, and to be part of the
solution.
ACF’s NETWORK
The ACF
affiliate network includes four community foundations on the
US-Mexico Border, including the Cochise and Yuma affiliates
that are participating in the Border Philanthropy Partnership.
The Greater Green Valley Community Foundation and Patagonia
Regional Community Foundations serve respectively a retirement
community and two clusters of small rural towns and villages.
In Santa Cruz County, Patagonia Community Foundation’s
most important success is its Youth and Family Services Coalition.
The Coalition brings together service providers, most based
in urban centers outside this region, with schools, parents,
law enforcement, local government leaders and community members
to strengthen support of youth and families. The Coalition
is focused on creating positive conditions rather than services
for symptoms; viewing people as resources, mobilizing regional
assets first before leveraging resources from the outside
and promoting youth leadership.