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HomeMy WebLinkAbout120722 FW_ Our community gets stronger_ thanks to you_ ________________________________ From: Siobhan Canty, Jefferson Community Foundation Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2022 11:36:24 AM (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada) To: Kate Dean Subject: Our community gets stronger, thanks to you. ________________________________ ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. ________________________________ 2022 — The year in review <https://mcusercontent.com/2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262/images/d521b3cd-db12-0bcb-6b39-0d3866f5e365.jpg> Dear Friends, As we shepherd the last vestiges of 2022 to a close, we look back with joy at what you, the network of changemakers that work through Jefferson Community Foundation, have accomplished in our community this year. Here we share some highlights of the wonderful ways the unexpected happens and the increased impact each person can have when we work together as a connected and informed community. In this season of gratitude, all of us at the Jefferson Community Foundation would like to say thank you. Whether you are a nonprofit leader, donor, or volunteer, thank you for investing your ideas, time, talents, treasure and hearts to help our beloved community become what we all want it to be — a place where everyone who lives here has the support and opportunity they need to thrive. We appreciate all you are and all you do, and we look forward to being in service of your creative changemaking in 2023. Warmest Regards, Siobhan & Team . . . GIVE Donations informed with local knowledge and strategy. <https://mcusercontent.com/2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262/images/ccec63b2-c42e-ac2b-87e1-31d2504b5fe5.png> Permanently Affordable Workforce Housing The year started with a small group of housing advocates who came to JCF for help. They had identified a 17-acre parcel of land in Port Hadlock that seemed ideal for building affordable workforce housing. They knew that fast action was needed to vet the opportunity and get the land off the market before it was lost to private market-rate development. The group also wanted to see if this could be turned into a mixed-income neighborhood for local working people, but they were not sure how to proceed with such a large project. JCF reached out to the wonderful team at Habitat for Humanity East Jefferson County to see if they might partner on this exploration. Unsurprisingly, they too were aware of this land and were interested in working on it. One obstacle, though: as a member of Habitat for Humanity International, our local Habitat is allowed to build houses only for folks making around $55,000 a year or less. What about those other workers? Those making between $55,000 and $110,000? That range includes folks like nurses, teachers, nonprofit and maritime workers. Creative solutions needed to be found quickly. In the following 16 weeks, Habitat and JCF worked together to: * Get agreement from the International Habitat that the local Habitat could own all of the land as long as the houses they directly built were for low-income families, allowing other developers to take on the higher income level housing; * Vet the land via environmental studies and meetings with the County; * Engage local donors to raise $4.5 million to purchase the land and cover the costs of infrastructure like streets and sidewalks costs could be kept low. On May 23, 2022, the purchase was completed! This will be future home of a vibrant neighborhood of mixed single and multi-family housing adjacent to Chimacum Creek Primary School and close to Jefferson County Library with amenities such as community gardens, green spaces, and childcare opportunities that create community and blend into and enhance the Tri-Area. Thank you to the advocates, donors, Habitat team, County Commissioners, County Planners and volunteers who came together with such agility and trust to make this happen! . . . BUILD Strong and collaborative nonprofits. Youth Mental Health This next story is about youth mental health and tells of the magic that happens when generosity of spirit, inventive ideas, connection and collaboration unexpectedly evolve into something greater than anyone expected when it all started. Let’s start with the happy ending first: Chimacum Elementary School now has staff, space and partnership of Jumping Mouse Children’s Center to help young people find the mental health support they need. This ending evolved over a 3-year period, with various people building on each other’s contributions. Follow along if you will, because this path is an interesting, and sometimes surprising, confluence of donors, nonprofit organizations, thought leaders, and lots of people who care. . . . <https://mcusercontent.com/2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262/images/201619a9-cbe3-d71c-d4a4-3758514c7788.jpg> . . . The story begins when a local changemaker inherited a painting from their parents that turned out to be valuable. The painting was sold at auction at Sotheby's and this person wanted to do something with the funds received that would benefit the community, honor his parents and lift up local leaders, something dear to his heart. He came to JCF to see if we could help shape a giving strategy to meet those goals. As a result, JCF formed the Youth Mental Health Giving Circle. Funded by the proceeds of the painting, JCF gathered eight leaders of local youth mental health programs to make a recommendation for how the funding should be used. A decision was made to recommend support for ongoing training for Chimacum teachers with Jumping Mouse Children’s Center to help them better identify and handle the impacts of childhood trauma in their students. Then in the summer of 2022, the members of another giving circle at JCF — the Better Living through Giving Circle — were interested in supporting local public education and organized a session with all five of Jefferson County's school superintendents to get some direction about where their gifts could have the most impact. JCF staff listened in and created a list of funding opportunities that was shared with our larger network of donors. The list included the need for a permanent physical space for the Chimacum Elementary Schools youth mental health program, one where Jumping Mouse staff, teachers and young people could meet consistently and have access to the tools or resources needed for the model of play therapy that Jumping Mouse does so well. Two weeks later, a new donor who had seen the list contributed $8,000 to make the therapy room a reality. Thank you to the schools, Jumping Mouse staff, giving circle members, mental health professionals, donors, teachers and students for coming together to make this a reality! The End... or is it? . . . SOLVE Regional issues by working together on solutions. <https://mcusercontent.com/2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262/images/e1bef5de-7a3a-33e8-3950-49a174332f17.jpg> Childcare for Working Families Lastly, we have a story in early stages about people coming together to increase childcare. Jefferson County is considered a “childcare desert,” which is defined as “any census tract with more than 50 children under age five that contains either no childcare providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed childcare slots.” This is a monumental problem for parents, employers, the local economy, and for our ability to thrive as a community. There are multiple entities working to find solutions the childcare problem and this year several individuals approached JCF to ask if we would take on the role of helping to “bring it all together” so the myriad groups could work in concert — coordinating efforts, sharing ideas, identifying resources, and working together. As a result, the Jefferson County Childcare Network was formed and convenes a monthly meeting to bring together stakeholders in an with the goal of creating a coordinated landscape of childcare. Thank you to these Childcare Network participants who are working tirelessly on finding ways to increase the availability of childcare for local working families: * The Population Health Department of Jefferson Healthcare, securing funding and developing strategies for community-wide solutions; * Port Townsend School District Superintendent, committed to providing a new childcare space on school property; * OlyCAP, running Headstart and developing a childcare space in their new building, 7th Haven * Olympic Peninsula YMCA, committed to providing childcare at both the future Port Townsend High School site and the OlyCAP site. * Jefferson County, coordinating government funding. * City of Port Townsend City, ensuring City support for emerging solutions. * Dove House, advocates for local families. * Additional local private childcare providers and potential childcare providers, who face the challenges of obtaining and maintaining state licenses, finding appropriate and state approved facility space, and start-up costs, all of which can be prohibitively expensive. . . . May 2023 be a year of powerful change making for all of you! <https://mcusercontent.com/2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262/images/b65b2fd0-216e-48c5-99c9-9f96f9577359.png> Jefferson Community Foundation welcomes the community to visit our office! Wayfinding signage in place to assist you finding us at: 63 Julian Street, Port Townsend, WA Off Frederick St in Glen Cove Open Monday-Friday | 9AM - 5PM <https://jcfgives.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=e809a49f3b&e=7023ab5d8e> Share <https://jcfgives.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=a d3e4b3ca0&e=7023ab5d8e> <https://us18.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=e0cfc6ae21&e=7023ab5d8e> Forward <https://us18.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=e0cfc6ae21&e= 7023ab5d8e> Copyright © 2022 Jefferson Community Foundation, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you provided your email address to Jefferson Community Foundation/United Good Neighbors. Our mailing address is: Jefferson Community Foundation P.O. Box 1394 Port Hadlock, WA 98339 Add us to your address book <https://jcfgives.us18.list-manage.com/vcard?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=11bafd4595> Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences <https://jcfgives.us18.list-manage.com/profile?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=11bafd4595&e=7023ab5d8e&c=e0cfc6ae21> or unsubscribe from this list <https://jcfgives.us 18.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=11bafd4595&e=7023ab5d8e&c=e0cfc6ae21> . <http://www.mailchimp.com/email-referral/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=referral_marketing&aid=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&afl=1> <https://jcfgives.us18.list-manage.com/track/open.php?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=e0cfc6ae21&e=7023ab5d8e> n Port Hadlock that seemed ideal for building affordable workforce housing. They knew that fast action was needed to vet the opportunity and get the land off the market before it was lost to private market-rate development. The group also wanted to see if this could be turned into a mixed-income neighborhood for local working people, but they were not sure how to proceed with such a large project. JCF reached out to the wonderful team at Habitat for Humanity East Jefferson County to see if they might partner on this exploration. Unsurprisingly, they too were aware of this land and were interested in working on it. One obstacle, though: as a member of Habitat for Humanity International, our local Habitat is allowed to build houses only for folks making around $55,000 a year or less. What about those other workers? Those making between $55,000 and $110,000? That range includes folks like nurses, teachers, nonprofit and maritime workers. Creative solutions needed to be found quickly. In the following 16 weeks, Habitat and JCF worked together to: * Get agreement from the International Habitat that the local Habitat could own all of the land as long as the houses they directly built were for low-income families, allowing other developers to take on the higher income level housing; * Vet the land via environmental studies and meetings with the County; * Engage local donors to raise $4.5 million to purchase the land and cover the costs of infrastructure like streets and sidewalks costs could be kept low. On May 23, 2022, the purchase was completed! This will be future home of a vibrant neighborhood of mixed single and multi-family housing adjacent to Chimacum Creek Primary School and close to Jefferson County Library with amenities such as community gardens, green spaces, and childcare opportunities that create community and blend into and enhance the Tri-Area. Thank you to the advocates, donors, Habitat team, County Commissioners, County Planners and volunteers who came together with such agility and trust to make this happen! . . . BUILD Strong and collaborative nonprofits. Youth Mental Health This next story is about youth mental health and tells of the magic that happens when generosity of spirit, inventive ideas, connection and collaboration unexpectedly evolve into something greater than anyone expected when it all started. Let’s start with the happy ending first: Chimacum Elementary School now has staff, space and partnership of Jumping Mouse Children’s Center to help young people find the mental health support they need. This ending evolved over a 3-year period, with various people building on each other’s contributions. Follow along if you will, because this path is an interesting, and sometimes surprising, confluence of donors, nonprofit organizations, thought leaders, and lots of people who care. . . . <https://mcusercontent.com/2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262/images/201619a9-cbe3-d71c-d4a4-3758514c7788.jpg> . . . The story begins when a local changemaker inherited a painting from their parents that turned out to be valuable. The painting was sold at auction at Sotheby's and this person wanted to do something with the funds received that would benefit the community, honor his parents and lift up local leaders, something dear to his heart. He came to JCF to see if we could help shape a giving strategy to meet those goals. As a result, JCF formed the Youth Mental Health Giving Circle. Funded by the proceeds of the painting, JCF gathered eight leaders of local youth mental health programs to make a recommendation for how the funding should be used. A decision was made to recommend support for ongoing training for Chimacum teachers with Jumping Mouse Children’s Center to help them better identify and handle the impacts of childhood trauma in their students. Then in the summer of 2022, the members of another giving circle at JCF — the Better Living through Giving Circle — were interested in supporting local public education and organized a session with all five of Jefferson County's school superintendents to get some direction about where their gifts could have the most impact. JCF staff listened in and created a list of funding opportunities that was shared with our larger network of donors. The list included the need for a permanent physical space for the Chimacum Elementary Schools youth mental health program, one where Jumping Mouse staff, teachers and young people could meet consistently and have access to the tools or resources needed for the model of play therapy that Jumping Mouse does so well. Two weeks later, a new donor who had seen the list contributed $8,000 to make the therapy room a reality. Thank you to the schools, Jumping Mouse staff, giving circle members, mental health professionals, donors, teachers and students for coming together to make this a reality! The End... or is it? . . . SOLVE Regional issues by working together on solutions. <https://mcusercontent.com/2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262/images/e1bef5de-7a3a-33e8-3950-49a174332f17.jpg> Childcare for Working Families Lastly, we have a story in early stages about people coming together to increase childcare. Jefferson County is considered a “childcare desert,” which is defined as “any census tract with more than 50 children under age five that contains either no childcare providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed childcare slots.” This is a monumental problem for parents, employers, the local economy, and for our ability to thrive as a community. There are multiple entities working to find solutions the childcare problem and this year several individuals approached JCF to ask if we would take on the role of helping to “bring it all together” so the myriad groups could work in concert — coordinating efforts, sharing ideas, identifying resources, and working together. As a result, the Jefferson County Childcare Network was formed and convenes a monthly meeting to bring together stakeholders in an with the goal of creating a coordinated landscape of childcare. Thank you to these Childcare Network participants who are working tirelessly on finding ways to increase the availability of childcare for local working families: * The Population Health Department of Jefferson Healthcare, securing funding and developing strategies for community-wide solutions; * Port Townsend School District Superintendent, committed to providing a new childcare space on school property; * OlyCAP, running Headstart and developing a childcare space in their new building, 7th Haven * Olympic Peninsula YMCA, committed to providing childcare at both the future Port Townsend High School site and the OlyCAP site. * Jefferson County, coordinating government funding. * City of Port Townsend City, ensuring City support for emerging solutions. * Dove House, advocates for local families. * Additional local private childcare providers and potential childcare providers, who face the challenges of obtaining and maintaining state licenses, finding appropriate and state approved facility space, and start-up costs, all of which can be prohibitively expensive. . . . May 2023 be a year of powerful change making for all of you! <https://mcusercontent.com/2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262/images/b65b2fd0-216e-48c5-99c9-9f96f9577359.png> Jefferson Community Foundation welcomes the community to visit our office! Wayfinding signage in place to assist you finding us at: 63 Julian Street, Port Townsend, WA Off Frederick St in Glen Cove Open Monday-Friday | 9AM - 5PM <https://jcfgives.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=e809a49f3b&e=7023ab5d8e> Share <https://jcfgives.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=a d3e4b3ca0&e=7023ab5d8e> <https://us18.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=e0cfc6ae21&e=7023ab5d8e> Forward <https://us18.forward-to-friend.com/forward?u=2d958d33b3a756c859d7fa262&id=e0cfc6ae21&e= 7023ab5d8e> Copyright © 2022 Jefferson Community Foundation, All rights reserved. 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