Leveraging Partnerships
The Office of Community Partnerships and Strategic Communications (OCPSC) centers its work on cultivating meaningful relationships with trusted messengers, community-based organizations and local community foundations. These partners bring deep knowledge of their communities’ strengths and needs and have established the trust of community members through authentic conversations and reliable access to resources.
OCPSC recently partnered with the League of California Community Foundations (LCCF) to establish the Resilience, Capacity Building, and Community Engagement grant program.
It was designed to strengthen the ability of local foundations and grassroots organizations to be responsive to the needs of historically underserved communities across California.
Read more about this grant program in the 2025 Final Report
2025 Final Report
Discover how we worked alongside a trusted messenger network of organizations on the frontlines in communities across CA, allowing us to activate quickly and efficiently because trust has been built.
Community Foundations
Administered by LCCF, the program provided $1.36 million in grants to 15 local community foundations throughout the state.
Those community foundations then funded 159 trusted messenger organizations working to address pressing community needs. These organizations delivered essential services in 18 counties – from Mendocino to Ventura – focusing on disaster preparedness, housing stability, food security, healthcare access, and capacity building for nonprofit leaders.
Flexible, trust-based funding like these grants empower local organizations to respond effectively to their communities’ unique challenges.
By The Numbers
Highlights from Community Foundations
Building Community Trust in Monterey County
When most people think of Monterey County, images of stunning ocean views, historic landmarks, and charming vacation spots often come to mind. But for many residents who call this region home, life looks very different.
Ventura County’s Festival of Hope and Learning
Description
Power in Partnership
Description
In partnership with the League of California Community Foundations
Resilience, Capacity Building, and Community Engagement Grants
| Organization | Counties Served | Description | Grant Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amador Community Foundation | Amador | Build capacity of Amador Community Foundation to select grantees for the trusted messenger work. Amador is a remote area, with many community members struggling with poverty and mental health issues. | $19,120 |
| Central Valley Community Foundation | Fresno | Offer sponsorship of housing stability initiatives, community engagement, mental health services, and data collection to guide work in Southwest Fresno in partnership with Southwest Fresno Housing and Community Development Collaborative. | $100,000 |
| Inland Empire Community Foundation | Riverside | Enhance community resilience with a focus on disaster preparedness, environmental stewardship, and wildfire risk reduction through data-driven approaches to address their community needs. | $100,000 |
| Community Foundation of Mendocino County | Mendocino | Engage Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and Tribal communities in disaster preparedness, focusing on seven regions within the County to bolster community engagement and localized volunteerism. | $100,000 |
| Community Foundation of Merced County | Merced | Identify and implement effective resilience strategies by offering technical support in grant writing and channeling resources where they are needed most to CBOs in their communities. | $99,880 |
| Community Foundation for Monterey County | Monterey | Support the Virus Integrated Distribution of Aid (VIDA) project focusing on African American/Black, Indigenous, and farmworker communities by distributing essential supplies and information, engaging in direct outreach, and facilitating in-person interactions. | $66,000 |
| Community Foundation of the North State | Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama | Support Shasta, Siskiyou, and Tehama counties by enhancing the capacity of CBOs through technical assistance in grant writing and strategy, to organizations that provide crucial safety-net services such as healthcare, childcare, food security, housing, and trauma recovery. | $100,000 |
| Placer Community Foundation | Placer | Provide a range of outreach and engagement efforts and social services to vulnerable communities, in partnership with five CBOs throughout the region, including disaster response and affordable housing advocacy. | $100,000 |
| San Joaquin Community Foundation | San Joaquin | Support community health workers in their region to conduct education and outreach to connect vulnerable communities to services and build personal resilience. | $100,000 |
| Santa Barbara Foundation | Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura | Strengthen the network of trusted messengers through coordination, collaboration, and training and by creating economic opportunities for community health workers who often come from the community they are serving. Project is in support of community health worker initiatives in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura Counties. | $100,000 |
| Community Foundation Santa Cruz County | Santa Cruz | Disrupt the cycle of evictions and homelessness affecting countless local families through mediation, navigation services, and case management support to access back rent programs, community supports, housing, and benefits by working through the Eviction Defense Collaborative. | $100,000 |
| Community Foundation Sonoma County | Sonoma | Support a cohort-based training for staff and board leadership for local nonprofits in areas of need as identified by trusted messengers working in the community. | $75,000 |
| Stanislaus Community Foundation | Stanislaus | Support five grassroots organizations across Stanislaus County, many of which are all volunteer based, in outreach and engagement of vulnerable populations such as people experiencing homelessness, non-English speaking community members, and immigrants, to improve the lives of residents and the vibrancy of the unique and diverse communities throughout Stanislaus County. | $100,000 |
| Ventura County Community Foundation | Ventura | Support trusted messengers with training, coordination, and collaboration on the Highest Quality Early Childhood Education campaign as part of their early childhood education initiative. | $100,000 |
| West Marin Fund | Marin | Expand the Collaborative Impact Project to the Latinx community in West Marin to seven CBOs providing outreach and education focused on housing, health, and early childhood education. | $100,000 |