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• 2022 Scholarship Season Open January 14 through March 1

  

  This year, over 160 scholarships from local schools, businesses, clubs, organizations, and individuals are available. Humboldt Area Foundation & Wild Rivers Community Foundation scholarship funds reflect new and established donors, alike. Many funds are over thirty years old, while others are as new as a few weeks old. Approximately $750,000 will be awarded through these scholarships. Current scholarship listings and the Humboldt Area Foundation & Wild Rivers Community Foundation's Universal Application for scholarships can be found at ScholarshipFinder.org.

  Scholarships support students throughout the 2022-2023 academic school year and are offered to students pursuing any form of postsecondary education, including: associate degrees; bachelor’s degrees; master’s degrees; and degrees and certifications from a career, vocational or technical school. While most scholarships are primarily intended for and offered to students in the Humboldt Area Foundation & Wild Rivers Community Foundation service regions, some scholarships are available to national or global applicants. 

  “We’re thrilled to launch the Humboldt Area Foundation & Wild Rivers Community Foundation Universal Scholarship Application for the 2022 scholarship cycle! The Universal Application is an easy and simple way to connect current and prospective students to local funding opportunities, through a single application process. Many of our scholarship funds have been in existence for over 30 years, providing long-term support to our region’s youth. It is a privilege to continue providing support for the success of thriving youth and families in the service region,” says Sydney Morrone, Grants & Scholarships Manager for the Humboldt Area Foundation & Wild Rivers Community Foundation.

  Contact the Scholarships Team at Scholarships@hafoundation.org with questions. For additional financial resources and other potential scholarships available to students, visit hafoundation.org. 

• [Community Voices Coalition] Tacos y Vacunas: Eureka Nonprofit Works to Ensure Latinx Residents are Comfortable Getting Vaccinated

  

  

  As the line for vaccine doses shrank, a group of participants started doing Zumba. The fair provided several activities, like dancing and face painting, to bring as many families as possible in to get vaccinated. Photo By Kris Nagel
  

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  More than most, Loleta resident Yohana Castillo, 36, has experienced unexpected and tremendous loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past eight months, she has lost four people. First her cousin, Esteban Gonzalez, of Esteban’s Mexican restaurant in Arcata, died of complications from the disease. Then another cousin, followed by a distant family member in Mexico City and, finally, her neighbor. 
  

  
  Seeing the effects the virus had on her family and wanting to protect their 4-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter, Castillo and her husband decided to get vaccinated. 
  
  “Now that I’m vaccinated, I feel safer going out, seeing my family,” she told the Journal in Spanish.
  
  Since receiving her vaccination, Castillo has been on a quest to help as many people in her community get vaccinated by making sure they understand what the protection can do. She was able to help the rest of her family get their vaccines.
  
  “I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through,” she said. “I want everyone to have the opportunity to feel safe the way I feel safe.” 
  
  Castillo likes to be involved in her daughter’s school activities and met True North Organizing Network organizing director Julia Lerma through a virtual event. They began talking about their lives and Castillo’s recent losses when Lerma told her about True North’s planned efforts to help the county’s Latinx population get vaccinated. Castillo jumped on board and quickly became a volunteer organizer for the Eureka-based nonprofit.
  
  Humboldt’s Latinx population is still lagging behind in vaccination rates despite seeing disproportionate rates of infection. As of July 15, about 45 percent of Humboldt County’s Latinx population had received at least one dose of the vaccine compared to about 50 percent of the county’s non-Hispanic/Latinx population. Meanwhile, residents identifying as Hispanic and Latinx continue to make up 23 percent of the county’s positive COVID cases despite making up only 12 percent of the county’s population. Statewide, roughly 43 percent of the Latinx population has received at least one dose of the vaccine compared to 53 percent of the population overall, while Latinx residents account for 56 percent of COVID-19 cases despite making up 39 percent of the population, according to the California Department of Public Health.
  
  Local efforts to reach the Latinx community with COVID-19 safety and vaccination information have been challenging, as has been the case statewide and nationally. Many Hispanic and Latinx Humboldt County residents have reported finding it challenging to find accurate information in Spanish, though public health has staffed its COVID-19 information line with Spanish speakers and has translated COVID information and social media posts hoping to reach non-English speakers.
  
  There are a variety of reasons vaccine hesitancy may be more pervasive in the Hispanic and Latinx population than other demographics. 
  
  “Compared to white adults, larger shares of unvaccinated Hispanic adults say they are concerned about missing work due to vaccine side effects, that they might have to pay out of pocket for the vaccine (despite it being free), not being able to get the vaccine from a trusted place, or having difficulty traveling to a vaccination site,” states a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Among Hispanic adults, the shares expressing many of these concerns are even greater among those with lower incomes, the uninsured, and those who are potentially undocumented.”
  
  Humboldt County Health Officer Ian Hoffman has repeatedly said offering local employees time off to get vaccinated and even sick leave if they experience side effects would reduce barriers locally, though it’s unclear how many businesses are doing it.
  
  True North, meanwhile, has worked to get translated health and safety information to Humboldt’s Latinx community, while also working with the vaccine hesitant and creating more comfortable environments for Latinx community members to get vaccinated in. And so the idea of the family friendly vaccine fair was born and the nonprofit started planning a festive event that would feel distinctly different than the mass vaccination clinics being organized by public health.
  
  Before the fair, Castillo and True North spent time canvassing in Latinx communities at churches, mercados and neighborhoods, posting Spanish-language flyers about the vaccine fair with phone numbers — including her own — for those hesitant about the COVID vaccine to call for more information. Castillo told those who called about her story why she decided to get the vaccine and her experience getting her shot. 
  
  “They’re afraid of getting a reaction,” Castillo said. “We have a group of three people working to talk to people and I haven’t heard a different concern but that they’re all afraid to get a bad reaction to the vaccine. So, we always tell them to talk to their doctor — sometimes they begin to tell me what (medical conditions) they have, and I can’t answer that, but we give them the information we can.” 
  
  The day of the vaccine clinic last month was unusually warm and drizzly. In front of the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at College of the Redwoods gymnasium, Castillo and True North’s team of volunteer organizers set up a sound system for music and tables, one for snacks filled with pan dulce, water and juice, another with kids’ activities, like coloring books and markers, and a third for people to get raffle tickets and free tacos. 
  
  The rain didn’t dampen Castillo’s helpful demeanor. She was wearing a mask but smiled with her eyes as she greeted those walking up to the gym, asking them first in Spanish if they were there for their vaccination, then directing them to where they needed to go. If they didn’t speak Spanish, she used the bit of English she knows to direct them. But she was there primarily as a first point of contact for those who only speak Spanish, letting them know there were people there to speak to them in their language. At one point, she held a bundle of balloons that she passed out to kids. 
  
  She said she felt happy and emotional at the fair, pointing out that while the fair drew in some folks to get vaccinated, others showed up to get their shots totally unaware of the accompanying activities and free tacos.
  
  Adding to the festive, inviting atmosphere was Jorge Matias, who works for St. Joseph Health and whom True North invited to put on a Zumba lesson. With an energetic charm, Matias got people dancing.
  
  According to the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, a total of 109 people were vaccinated during the June 13 fair, 27 of them walk-ins. In comparison, the week of July 12 saw Public Health’s mobile team vaccinate a total of 97 people at the Humboldt Crabs game and clinics in Rio Dell, Fortuna and Samoa, according to a July 13 COVID update to the board of supervisors. 
  
  Public health officials have also said that even registering for a vaccine appointment can pose another barrier for those wanting to get their vaccinations. 
  
  During an April meeting with LatinoNet, Hoffman said Public Health’s goal is to ensure vaccine equity for the Latinx community and to guarantee that any Latinx resident seeking a COVID-19 vaccine feels comfortable and confident before, during and after their appointment, which is what True North was able to accomplish with its vaccine fair. 
  
  “People really enjoyed the event,” Castillo said. “They felt comfortable and like they were with family, and at ease because there were people there who spoke Spanish.” 
  
  True North held another vaccine clinic in Arcata similar to the one at the College of the Redwoods, with raffles, free food and Zumba, but won’t stop there. True North will hold more vaccine fairs in Fortuna and Eureka, continuing with the nonprofit’s mission of making sure everyone has an opportunity to get vaccinated in a setting that makes them comfortable, no matter the distance. Castillo, for one, is excited.
  
  “I think [the future vaccine fairs] will go very well and we’ll be successful because we really want all people to get vaccinated and feel safer at work and at school, with their family and the simple fact of going outside,” Castillo said. 
  
  Iridian Casarez (she/her) is a staff writer at the Journal. Reach her at 442-1400, extension 317, or iridian@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @IridianCasarez.
  
  The Community Voices Coalition is a project funded by Humboldt Area Foundation and Wild Rivers Community Foundation to support local journalism. This story was produced by the North Coast Journal newsroom with full editorial independence and control.

• Grant boosts immigrant legal services in Humboldt and Del Norte

  

  Catholic Charities efforts to provide legal services to individuals and families navigating the immigration and visa system in Del Norte and Humboldt counties were extended an extra year by a $15,000 grant from the Humboldt Area Foundation and Wild Rivers Community Foundation.

  “The immigrant communities in Humboldt and Del Norte counties face great challenges, namely a shortage of trained service providers as well as immigration attorneys who lack the experience necessary to properly address the need,” said Dina Lopez, Director of Immigration for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa. “This generous grant from HAF and WRCF will help Catholic Charities continue offering a variety of free legal services.”

  Catholic Charities serves more than 5,000 immigrants each year with a suite of legal immigration remedies including Family-based Petitions, DACA, green card renewals, naturalization, U Visa and T Visa. Accredited by the Department of Justice, Catholic Charities staff serve historically underserved immigrant communities — mostly clients from Mexico, Honduras, Philippines — in Sonoma, Humboldt, Lake and Del Norte counties.

  Lopez said her organization strives to make immigration remedies available to working families that are forced to travel outside of the area for help or pay significant fees for unreliable counsel.

  “We strive to make services more accessible than they have ever been,” she said. “And we remain steadfast in our commitment to those exploring legal permanent residency across the entire Diocese of Santa Rosa.”

  This is the second HAF/WRCF grant to Catholic Charities, which has expanded immigration outreach and education in Humboldt County the last five years. From November 2020 to September 2021 a $12,000 grant to the organization allowed them to bring $90,000 worth of pro bono legal aid to Humboldt County, reaching 152 workers and their families.

  “Supporting the services that allow our neighbors to achieve or maintain legal immigration status is key to ensuring the safety and protection of these families,” said Lindsie Bear, vice president or Community Solutions at HAF/WRCF. “We are grateful to our local community leaders at True North Organizing, Centro del Pueblo, and in the Promotores Network for helping the foundation identify this gap in essential services. And to Catholic Charities for working with local leaders to bring trusted educational and technical expertise where it is so deeply needed.”

  Catholic Charities will use the new HAF/WRCF grant this year and in 2022 to expand services in Del Norte County as the number of immigrants working low-wage service and agriculture jobs continues to rise. Specific services will include free, one-to-one legal assistance, and free education and outreach events that help clients learn their rights and the legal pathways to citizenship. The work will be done virtually in partnership with trusted, local agencies and Catholic parishes. Once COVID restrictions are lifted, they will return to in-person events.

  For more information about Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa, visit www.srcharities.org. Learn more about Humboldt Area Foundation at hafoundation.org, and Wild Rivers Community Foundation at wildriverscf.org. For more information about this press release, contact Jarad Petroske at jaradp@hafoundation.org.

• Five Humboldt artists receive Victor Thomas Jacoby awards

  

  HAF+WRCF is proud to announce that five Humboldt County artists are winners of the 2022 Victor Thomas Jacoby award for artistic vision and creativity. Winners receive $10,000 each to support their work.

  Each fall, local artists apply through HAF+WRCF for the Victor Thomas Jacoby Award by submitting examples of their work and vision for innovating and pushing their art to the next level.

  “Victor was a gifted artist who wanted to recognize the excellence of fellow artists and enable them to broaden their horizons" says Craig Woods, Director of Grantmaking. "HAF+WRCF is honored to carry out Victor’s charitable vision by supporting Humboldt County visual artists and craftspeople each year.”

  This year’s recipients are:

  

  Annette Makino: An award-winning haiku poet and artist based in Arcata, California, who combines paintings and collages with her poems. Her work regularly appears in the leading haiku journals and anthologies. Through her business, Makino Studios, she shares her art, cards, calendars, and books. www.makinostudios.com

   

  
  

  Zak Shea: A McKinleyville-based woodworker, painter, sculptor, and carpenter who creates functional and ornamental pieces of art furniture, sculpture, objects such as bowls, trays, carved paintings and countless wall hangings. Pieces of shell, rock, sand, bark, seaweed, as well as junk metal and other scrap materials often find their way into his art. www.instagram.com/zaksheaart

   

  
  

  Claire MacKenzie: A visual artist in Eureka, Claire has been painting since childhood and loves exploring and combing media. She is currently working in oil, watercolor, encaustic and wool fiber. She often displays artwork publicly, offers private art instruction, and has worked as a graphic designer for more than 20 years. www.claireastra.com

   

  

  Daniel Willson: Doing art again in 2017 after a 30-year hiatus, this multi-talented Humboldt artist started ceramics under the guidance of George Lee at Heartwood Mountain Sanctuary. Willson soon became a studio artist and instructor at Blue Ox Millworks and Historic Village, where he does slip cast sculpture work. He plans to launch his own business, Humboldt Ceramic Designs, in 2023. www.instagram.com/humboldtceramicdesigns

   

  

  Steph Thomas: This black, trans, non-binary multimedia artist brings the culture, power, and beauty of the 415 to the 707. While born and raised in San Francisco, Steph has lived and created in Arcata for more than six years. Their influence is a combination of lived experience and a reflection of the resilience of the black people who live within and around them.

  Their recent works have been digital paintings focused on the ever-expanding notion of Black Femininity, as well as the multi-faceted existence of Black Women and Femmes occupying space under capitalism. https://www.instagram.com/spicyprincezuko/

   

  

  About Victor Thomas Jacoby

  Victor Jacoby, an internationally recognized Eureka visual artist whose chosen medium was French tapestry, established the Victor Thomas Jacoby Fund with HAF+WRCF before his death in 1997 at age 52. Victor’s vision inspired his friend Dr. Rosalind Novick to make an additional gift to the fund and expand his dream of supporting local artists. This trust fund is dedicated to supporting Humboldt County visual artists and craftspeople and encourages exploring new ideas, materials, techniques, and mediums. In addition, the fund distributes annual cash awards to artists or craftspeople selected by a review panel of leading arts representatives.

• Historic Lease Sale for Offshore Wind In California Advances Amidst Calls for Greater Community Investments in the North Coast

  Offshore wind energy in the Pacific took a leap forward this week, as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released the Final Sale Notice (FSN) for commercial wind energy leasing on the outer continental shelf in offshore Central and Northern California. This is the first-ever lease sale proposed on the West Coast and will open up five lease areas for auction – three off Morro Bay in Central California and two off Humboldt Bay in the North Coast region. The FSN includes a list of the 43 companies qualified to bid for an offshore wind lease, with an auction scheduled for Dec. 6, 2022.

  Offshore wind development on the North Coast is pivotal to meeting state and federal climate goals and can provide vital energy reliability and climate resilience benefits to the region. However, past boom and bust industries in the North Coast have harmed Tribal Nations and precious ecosystems, and the region is still recovering from a legacy of underinvestment. Today, many communities in the region lack reliable electricity, broadband, transportation, and housing, as well as access to childcare and other services – pivotal services that are needed to host this new industry. 

  “Far too often in our region, racialized and extractive natural resource industries have a significant cost in terms of collateral damage to underserved and marginalized communities,” said Bryna Lipper, CEO of HAF+WRCF. “Today, North Coast Community Benefits Network aims to rewrite that script as it relates to offshore wind by advocating for community-driven development approaches.” 

  In comments submitted to BOEM this summer, the Network recommended a 50 percent bid credit package to be dedicated to Tribes, Tribal Fisheries, local communities, and environmental research and monitoring. This means that 50 percent of the federal revenues from the lease sale that would otherwise go to the federal government would be used locally instead. The Network additionally proposed safety and protections for Tribal Nations and the environment and targeted commitments to building a local workforce around construction, operations, and science. The State of California submitted similar comments to BOEM, including a recommendation that the federal government direct 50 percent of the revenues to communities that will host the budding industry. 

  BOEM’s offshore wind Final Sale Notice offers a pathway towards achieving community benefits but ultimately falls short of providing the investments required for equitable wind energy development. Notably, the FSN included bid credits to incentivize developers to invest in the local workforce and domestic supply chain development and enter into community benefits agreements with ocean users and onshore communities. It also strongly encourages wind developers to enter into construction project labor agreements, which is key to ensuring good jobs and worker safety and improving marine resource protections. Unfortunately, the FSN fails to include necessary protections and benefits for Tribal Nations, the environment, Environmental Justice Communities, and Tribal and commercial fisheries, which are all critical to sustainable and equitable development in the North Coast region. 

  “Offshore wind energy can be a catalyst to meet energy equity, reliability, and lower pollution goals of all kinds to help solve the climate crisis and improve our communities. The specter of harm done by past energy and extractive industries looms over this, though. We need to be wise about the regulatory guardrails, capacities in host regions, and developer and community strategic partnership deployments to make sure this set of energy industries is done far better this time,” said Jana Ganion, Director of Sustainability and Government Affairs at Blue Lake Rancheria and CORE Hub Senior Advisor. 

  “The communities of the Samoa Peninsula include some of the neighborhoods most likely to be changed by offshore wind development,” said Natalie Arroyo, Natural Resources Projects Coordinator for the Redwood Community Action Agency. “The Peninsula Community Collaborative, composed of residents and small businesses in Manila, Samoa, Fairhaven, and Finnetown, wants to ensure that local voices are heard, and that important infrastructure is sustained. The historic boom and bust cycle of resource extraction around Humboldt Bay has left a lasting impact, and the Peninsula community wants to ensure that energy development takes a more sustainable path.”

  About the Redwood CORE Hub 

  The Redwood Region Climate And Community Resilience Hub (CORE Hub) is a community organization dedicated to solving the climate emergency through actions that result in more resilient communities and ecosystems. 

  The CORE Hub was established by regional leaders in climate resilience, mitigation, and adaptation and is based at the Humboldt Area Foundation and Wild Rivers Community Foundation, serving the California counties of Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity, as well as Curry County in Oregon. The CORE Hub’s service area includes 27 Tribal Nations and Indigenous Territories. The CORE Hub’s goal is to help the region become the first proven carbon-sequestering rural and Tribal region in the United States. The CORE Hub acts toward this goal through planning and policy guidance; facilitating healthy civic dialogue; taking action for equity; promoting accurate, accessible public information; providing research, analysis, and technical assistance; project acceleration; promoting traditional knowledge and multi-generational values; and conducting rigorous tracking to document progress and ensure accountability.

  To learn more about the CORE Hub’s work and community partnerships, visit https://redwoodcorehub.org/about/.

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• HAF+WRCF Offers Local Training for Federal Grant Applications

  

  Intensive grant-development course gives Del Norte and Curry County community leaders a better shot at landing federal grant dollars

  Download the Grants Architects Training Course application here.

  

  The competition for billions of federal grant dollars available each year is fierce and not easy for beginners nor for the faint of heart. That’s why Humboldt Area Foundation and Wild Rivers Community Foundation are offering nonprofits, government and tribal organizations in Curry and Del Norte counties an intensive, 8-month federal grant development training course that launches April 18-20.

  "We expect by the end of the eight months that trainees will have acquired in-depth knowledge and skills for successful development of every component of a federal grant application in various disciplines," said Tim Hoone, course trainer and Planning Director for the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation in Smith River.

   

  Hoone will be joined by trainer Lyn Craig, an independent grants consultant based in eastern Oregon. Consultant Angela Glore, also an experienced grant writer, will serve as facilitator. Hoone and Craig are graduates of an intensive, hands-on 10-month training in federal grant writing, sponsored by The Ford Family Foundation in 2014-15. Taken together, Tim and Lyn have obtained more than $75 million in federal grant dollars over the past decade. Both also have considerable experience in government and nonprofit administration and in managing grant-funded projects from conception to completion.

   

  "This isn't your average grant training workshop. It is intensive and will be focused on the real needs of the trainees and how the organizations they serve can best benefit from current and future federal funding opportunities,” said Craig.

  The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. March 18. Those interested in learning more about training before it starts are encouraged to attend an information webinar at a date to be determined. Tuition is $4,500, but grant funding and scholarships are available.

  The training:

  HAF+WRCF developed the “Grant Architects” training —modeled after one created by the Ford Family Foundation — because it knew that many organizations and local tribal and government entities were missing out on significant federal grant money. The course is designed to help state, county and local agencies, educational institutions, hospitals, private nonprofit organizations, and even for-profit organizations that are eligible for specific programs.

  Because of the breadth of information to be shared, the course will be held via Zoom on three consecutive days per month over eight months — equaling approximately 120 hours. Training is scheduled Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the third week of each month from April through November 2022. Training hours will typically be 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with breaks for lunch.

   

  The presenters will share in-depth information, tips, and techniques covering virtually every component of federal grant writing — from learning about funding resources to collaborative planning, development of all parts of a strong proposal, and follow-up upon successful notice of a grant award. While the course will focus primarily on developing successful federal grant proposals, tools for writing foundation grants will also be presented. 

  To apply:

  Those interested in the course are asked to fill out an application by the priority deadline, 5 p.m., March 18. To download the application, click here or contact the Wild Rivers Community Foundation at apply@wildriverscf.org.

  To apply, people must have a quiet place in which to participate, a laptop, strong internet connection, and an average of 4 to 6 months outside of training to work on assignments.

  The application process includes a cover letter explaining why one is interested in the training; a resume indicating work experience, community activism or volunteerism; examples of previous grant writing or professional writing; a brief narrative describing the organization, size of budget and current level of grant funding; and a paragraph explaining circumstances requiring financial aid assistance.