For many years Wild Rivers Community Foundation was merely a dream of several community members who wanted to create a way for others to give back locally so that collectively we could lift ourselves up as a community. This passionate and committed group of men and women had endeavored quietly for decades to create opportunities for our communities when they realized a community foundation would be the best vehicle to serve as the “catcher’s mitt” for local projects, to assist in building capacity in our community, and to facilitate giving and resources locally.
In 2004, “the dream” became a reality and WRCF was established “for the community, by the community,” with equal representation of board members hailing from Curry and Del Norte counties.
For eight years now, WRCF has served as the community-chosen “hub” of the Building Healthy Communities Initiative. BHC Del Norte and Tribal lands (DNATL) is a 10-year funding commitment from The California Endowment that has allowed us to facilitate and support efforts to improve health outcomes for its residents through policy and systems changes addressing health inequities. As we look to the future, beyond 2021, WRCF will continue to partner with The California Endowment and other foundations to create more opportunities for our communities. We are committed to building and maintaining capacity in our community, our people and our nonprofits.
This past year WRCF staff and board members stepped onto national stages to share the tools we use to facilitate these positive changes, all the while keeping peoples’ experiences at the heart of the work. We also shared our stories of collaboration, success and struggles, and emphasized the opportunities for foundations to partner with our community to support the work done by all those serving as the “boots on the ground.”
We invite you to read through our website (more stories here), which highlights just some of the community work the WRCF team is supporting in our region. We continue to lift up our partners, agencies and organizations striving to improve the health and well-being of our citizens in Del Norte and Curry counties. Thank you all for your continued efforts to make this place we call home great for all!