A Foundation of Trust

Dear Friends,

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are here, and that 2021 is coming to a close in just a few short days. Winter solstice, the official beginning of winter, is a time for hunkering down with loved ones, offering gratitude, and celebrating the gifts of family. During this darkest of days, we also celebrate the beginning of the return to light.

It’s been a challenging year, but also full of hope and expressions of community solidarity. Thank you for all you have done to support the Healthcare Foundation and our nonprofit partners through this exceptionally difficult time. And thank you, personally, for your condolences regarding the passing of my father last month. I feel so much love from this generous community.

On the topic of generosity, I’m very proud to report that last week the Rapid Test Equity Coalition successfully distributed over 128,000 free rapid tests through community-based organizations and churches, just in time for low-income folks to have home tests for use prior to family gatherings and worship services. The Healthcare Foundation, along with IsoCare, CURA Project, and West County Health Services, brought together funding, diverse strengths, and community connections to ensure that these rapid tests arrived in time to empower folks with potentially life-saving knowledge. A special shout-out and thank you to the Deas family for offering the use of their EandM warehouse in Healdsburg for packaging and distribution of thousands of test boxes.

In this issue, I’m excited to share information about the trust-based philanthropy movement, and its implications for our grantmaking strategies. Our grantee story this month is indicative of the trust we have in a new generation of local talent: Catalina Fausto, MFT candidate working in the Cloverdale schools, is a recipient of a Mental Health Talent Pipeline paid traineeship funded in partnership with the John Jordan Foundation. We also feature Daisy Cardenas and Montserrat Archila, who join us in January to bring their diverse life and professional experience, as well as their intimate understanding of the communities we serve, to the Healthcare Foundation Board of Directors.

Lastly, we invite you to view the Wetzel Award video, in which the Healthcare Foundation honors Edgar and Judy Deas and family and Montserrat Archila for their outstanding commitments to community health and well-being. Please join us in celebrating their incredible gifts to our community.

With deepest gratitude,

Kim Bender
Executive Director

Building a Foundation of Trust

Introducing the Trust-Based Philanthropy Movement

We are excited to share with you the concept of trust-based philanthropy. This approach to grantmaking is aligned with a larger movement for social justice that is challenging entrenched forms of hierarchy, exclusion, and impoverishment, and aims for a more just society where health and well-being are accessible to all. As described in the Nov. 2020 Stanford Social Innovation Review article, “Building a Trust-Based Philanthropy to Shift Power Back to Communities,” this approach aims to build a foundation of trust between funders and grantees by equalizing power imbalances and fostering equitable, mutually accountable relationships.

The Healthcare Foundation’s recent strategic planning process affirms our commitment to building a trust-oriented culture rooted in humility and deep learning. The planning process, which relied extensively on dialog and collaboration with our partners, made crystal clear the necessity of listening to and learning from the people and community-based organizations we serve. It drove home our understanding of where the necessary expertise truly resides: in the work, history, and lived experiences of our community. This approach expands decision-making structures to include trusted community members for shared agency, and results-based accountability.

The national movement for trust-based philanthropy resonates with our expressed values of community, compassion, and equity. Locally, as a member of the Sonoma County Funders Circle, we are exploring ways to invest in capacity building so that our communities can better define local problems and deploy funding in a participatory manner for the greatest impact.

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Meet Mental Health Talent Pipeline Scholarship Awardee Catalina Frausto

Catalina Frausto has always been interested in a career helping others. The inspiration has roots in some of her earliest experiences and role models.

“I had a therapist when I was little when my parents were getting divorced,” she relates. “I remember the time with the therapist was really special to me. When I looked back on it I thought, that would be a great career. To just talk to kids, to see how life is going and if I can help them in any way.”

Later, an elementary school counselor made another positive impression.

“He would come into our class, and would talk about life lessons, how to treat others like you would like to be treated. And I would talk to him about what was going on in my own life,” she says. “He was someone who I looked at and thought, I would really like to do what he’s doing.”

Today, Catalina is earning a master’s degree in counseling psychology at the Santa Rosa campus of the University of San Francisco. Having completed her coursework, she is spending her third and final year in the program as a bilingual trainee with Support Our Students Community Counseling (SOS), which was established in 1993 to support the mental health and wellbeing of Sonoma County youth. Catalina is working in the program’s school-based Cloverdale branch.

As it turns out, her old elementary school counselor also works there, a coincidence Catalina relates with delight. “It was a full-circle moment,” she says.

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Welcoming our New Board Members Montserrat Archila and Daisy Cardenas

The Healthcare Foundation is thrilled to announce that Montserrat Archila and Daisy Cardenas have joined the organization’s Board of Directors. Beginning in January, Montserrat and Daisy will work with the other members of the Board as well as the Foundation’s executive director and staff in pursuing the organization’s vision of eliminating health inequities in northern Sonoma County. Montserrat and Daisy are both exceptionally well positioned to help advance that goal, having extensive experience and community ties in northern Sonoma County, including a strong familiarity with the Healthcare Foundation’s work and mission.

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Thank you to all of you who joined us on December 7 to honor this year’s leaders in healthcare philanthropy during the annual Wetzel Awards! If you weren’t able to attend, we invite you to view a recording of the Zoom event here.

Each year the Healthcare Foundation is proud to highlight community members who demonstrate a commitment to improving health and health equity in our community. This year’s Wetzel Community Leadership Award recipients, Edgar and Judy Deas and Family, and Spirit of Wetzel Award recipient, Montserrat Archila, are shining examples of the diverse ways local leadership can contribute to the health and well-being of our region.
The Wetzel Awards were presented by our supporting sponsors Healdsburg Hospital, Providence and Costeaux French Bakery. Our deepest appreciation for their partnership.

Legacy Circle

Have you considered leav­ing a bequest to the Healthcare Foundation? A transformational gift ensures your legacy contributes to elim­inating health inequities in our region, advancing us toward a future of maximum health and wellness for all northern Sonoma County residents.

A special opportunity: A gen­erous, anonymous donor will contribute $5,000 for the first five new or newly disclosed commitments to the Legacy Circle in 2022. Contact us to­day and multiply your impact!

We are pleased to recognize our Legacy Circle members to date:
Bob Gain
Barbara Grasseschi and Tony Crabb
Dr. Laura Kimbro Chechile and Tom Chechile
Kim and John Lloyd
Peter McAweeney and Tod Hill
Lisa and Bill Meisner
Donna and Eddie Merideth
Ross Stromberg
Katie Wetzel Murphy and Denny Murphy