Taproot Foundation Expands to the Heart of Silicon Valley
Taproot Foundation Expands 2003 Grantmaking to Support over 50 Nonprofits – Providing over $2 Million in Services Grants to the Community
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, July 22, 2003 -- The Taproot Foundation today announced that it is awarding Service Grants valued at $1,115,000 to 26 Bay Area nonprofit organizations in need of marketing and technology support. This grantmaking cycle brings the Taproot Foundation’s total grantmaking for 2003 to $2,135,000, a 427% increase over the $500,000 in grants made in 2002.
With these Service Grants, the Taproot Foundation expanded into Santa Clara County and the heart of Silicon Valley. The Taproot Foundation now serves all six Bay Area counties – Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.
“As we grow our technology Service Grant program over the next year, serving the communities of Silicon Valley is critical,” said Aaron Hurst, president and founder of the Taproot Foundation. “We look to Silicon Valley to help set the vision for our technology Service Grant offering and to ensure that all nonprofits in the Bay Area have access to the technical resources they need.”
In this round of grantmaking, four Santa Clara nonprofits were awarded Service Grants: W.E.R.C. (Wildlife Education & Rehabilitation Center), Lenders for Community Development, San Jose Grail Development Corporation and San Jose’s Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT). Founded in 1994, RAFT helps teachers use creative projects to inspire their students to learn by supplying teachers with materials and ideas for how to use them in their classrooms.
“Technology and use of the web are included in virtually every area of our strategic plan and both are of increasing importance to our mission to serve our teachers and the more than 700,000 children in the Bay Area,” said Colleen Lukoff, replication director of RAFT. “Given the current economic climate, and the anticipated additional demands on RAFT due to teacher needs, without the support of the Taproot Foundation we would not be able re-launch our site and achieve many of the operational and program goals we have for the coming year.”
The new Service Grants will be launched at a rate of five per month for the next five months. The grant recipients include:
Community Development
Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency; Centro Legal de la Raza; Community Housing Partnership; Dolores Street Community Services; Hamilton Family Center; Homeward Bound of Marin; Lenders for Community Development; Mission Economic Development Association; Puente Ministry; TOOLWORKS; Youth Leadership Institute
Education
Alliance for Technology Access; Community Youth Center; Eastside College Preparatory School; Literacy for Environmental Justice; Resource Area for Teachers (RAFT); San Jose Grail Development Corporation
Environment
Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association; Point Reyes National Seashore Association; Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center (WERC)
Health
Center for Independent Living; Circulo de Vida Cancer Support & Resource Center; Community United Against Violence; Lifehouse (formerly MARC); Samaritan House; Valencia Health Services
About the Taproot Foundation
The Taproot Foundation has created a new model for delivering critical resources to nonprofits. While traditional foundations provide grants of cash, the Taproot Foundation provides nonprofits with grants of service. These “Service Grants” offer community-based organizations with clearly-defined projects tailored to their specific needs. Each Service Grant is staffed by a team of volunteers from the business community doing what they do best.
The Taproot Foundation is funded by individual and foundation grants, and received a 2002 Draper Richards Foundation fellowship for social entrepreneurship in recognition of its innovative model. The Taproot Foundation was founded in 2001 by a leadership team that includes executives with experience at the Bridgespan Group, Peninsula Community Foundation, Business for Social Responsibility, and Landor & Associates. For more information, please visit www.taprootfoundation.org.
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