Supporting Aquatic Safety for Curry Youth
Waterway safety is crucial. Last year, the Foundation supported Curry County in deploying effective safety programs. HAF+WRCF supported the Curry County Aquatic Safety Program, which helps youth learn vital skills to live and recreate safely. The program includes a Junior Lifeguard Program, where youth learn about safe recreation for themselves along with first aid, CPR, and other life-saving skills. The program also prioritizes working with vulnerable youth to remove barriers to accessing the Brookings Municipal Swimming Pool for healthy recreation and safety education. Organizers also hope to create job opportunities where student aids can become certified open-water lifeguards.
Boosting Community with Local Lending
Last year, HAF+WRCF approved a seven-year $1 million real estate loan for a Life Plan Humboldt project, co-financed with North Edge Business Financing & Community Development, RREDC (Redwood Region Economic Development Commission), and the Headwaters Fund of Humboldt County. The loan is backed by an 80 percent guarantee through the California iBank program. Life Plan Humboldt and its partner Rural Communities Housing Development
Corporation are working to offer a comprehensive moderate- and low-income supportive housing solution that will free up as many as 100 units of family housing currently occupied by seniors seeking simpler living conditions. The $6.7 million project will leverage more than $100 million in additional construction
financing and create both short-term construction jobs and ongoing new payroll of $2 million across 40-60 part-time and full-time jobs.
In addition to new community mission investments in 2023-24, the Foundation is still proudly servicing loans from past years to the Northern California Indian Development Council, the Hoopa Shopping Center, iłwai kiliwh, the Blue Lake Town Center, a Hoopa Valley Tribe land back purchase, Humboldt NeuroHealth, Affordable Communities, Inc. (formerly Resident Owned Parks), and multiple COVID-19 pandemic small business loans.
Supporting Disaster Response, Resilience, and Recovery
Through the Community Response Team (CRT), the Foundation has continuously supported organizations leading the December 2022 earthquake recovery efforts in the Eel River Valley using a variety of tools, including grantmaking and technical assistance.
As of June 2024, over $490,000 has been deployed to support individual unmet needs and over $360,000 had been granted for construction management, labor, and equipment for longer-term home repair projects. In addition, annual wildfires require immediate response and resilience efforts. In July 2023, the Foundation’s CRT connected with regional partners to address the impacts and needs created by the Perch, Flat, and Smith River Complex fires, which threatened and eventually displaced community members. Within a few weeks, the team connected with several community partners to understand and assess needs, acted as a conduit to connect needs to existing resources, and deployed over $150,000 in rapid response grantmaking dollars for emergency supplies, food security, hygiene, and general operating support.
Focusing on Economic Development
The Foundation proudly co-sponsored two thought leadership sessions at the Redwood Region Economic Summit. “How to Weave Inclusion, Prosperity, and Community” was led by Drs. Manuel Pastor and Chris Benner, long-time collaborators who co-authored the book “Solidarity Economics: Why Mutuality and Movements Matter.” Omar Carrillo Tinajero led “Transform Your Community’s Vision into Project Pipelines.” With the Center for Community Investment, Tinajero leads initiatives that support local partners in advancing their communities’ priorities and attract and deploy capital to shift systems toward equitable outcomes.
—
Read through more highlights from the 2023-2024 HAF+WRCF Annual Report and Yearbook.