Category: Stories

Neither rain nor hail nor thunder and lightning stayed our faithful attendees who came to see Sal Khan speak and celebrate our 20th birthday with us. Audience members listened to the world-renowned education innovator, and founder of Khan Academy, speak by the light of their iPhones when the power went out at Lincoln Theater in…

Read More

When immigration became a polarizing issue in other parts of the country, we brought two dozen donors together to fund a nonpartisan study on the economic and fiscal impact of immigration in Napa Valley.  We shared the results of our study with nearly 2,000 residents, encouraging civil dialogue based on local data.  After these discussions,…

Read More

When the economy faltered and the housing bubble burst, we brought 35 donors together to create a program for local families at risk of losing their homes. So far, more than 1,200 households have benefited from bilingual foreclosure education workshops, personalized financial assessments, and re-housing services—all free of charge.  Our funding ($365,000 over 5 years)…

Read More

When a group of nonprofits wanted to launch a public-private initiative to connect low-income households without bank accounts to affordable, mainstream financial services, we engaged 36 donors to help. In Napa County, it’s estimated that more than 2,000 households are “unbanked,” which means they use expensive check-cashing or pay-day lending services that can cost each…

Read More

When Napa Emergency Women’s Services (NEWS) wanted to try a different approach to helping victims of domestic violence, we engaged one of our donors to provide seed funding. NEWS developed a team that delivers crisis intervention services immediately, on the scene of a domestic dispute, and connects victims to help from other agencies. Their program shifted…

Read More