MARIN: A PLACE WE CAN ALL CALL HOME
Community is not one thing. It is everything. It’s where pain happens and where healing starts. It’s where advocacy at the most local level changes things on the most tangible level, and where these actions result in the nurturing of leadership and leaders. It’s where the dreams of opportunity are nurtured or crushed. The ability for communities to not just function, but flourish, is critical to the dream of democracy, of opportunity and of freedom.
It is with this backdrop we ask ourselves: how can this organization, uniquely charged with caring for the welfare of the people of Marin County use its privileged position to make us feel more connected as a community? Make us care more about our neighbors?
Read below about our new commitment to four priority communities.
The Buck Family
Marin Community Foundation was established with one family’s legacy.
Leonard and Beryl Buck put down roots in Marin in 1935 and lived there until each passed. The couple’s considerable wealth was incorporated into The Leonard and Beryl Buck Foundation (aka The Buck Trust) which specified that it should “always be held and used for exclusively nonprofit, charitable, religious or educational uses and purposes in providing care for the needy in Marin County, California.”
We have honored that intent since our formation in 1986 and will continue to do so in perpetuity.
four priority communities
While our work stretches across the County and sometimes beyond, four communities in Marin are most impacted by social and economic inequity. Here, the needs and the opportunity for impact are greatest.
The Canal District
Tight-knit. Diverse. Rich in culture and entrepreneurialism. Isolated. Overcrowded. Low income. Unsafe. The truth of the Canal district of San Rafael is complicated.
Marin City
A community was born when African American shipyard laborers became permanent residents of Marin City after WWII. Despite the tenacity and determination of its multi-generational residents, Marin City has grappled with racial and income inequality, gentrification, and health issues since day one.
Novato
The suburban and rural sprawl of Marin’s second largest city means that pockets of deep poverty can be hidden from sight. Along with the several homeless camps that dot the community. A predominantly White community is seeing a growing Latino population, bringing both cultural diversity and challenges.
West Marin
As the largest rural region in Marin County, West Marin is defined by small communities of agricultural workers and farm villages that border protected park lands. The region is challenged by a lack of infrastructure and connectivity that creates vast disparities between workers and their wealthier neighbors, along with an increasingly urgent affordable housing situation.
Initiatives that champion equity.
Affordable Housing & Homelessness
Every person deserves to live in a safe and secure home. However, the high cost of housing and limited supply of affordable homes in Marin forces many people into unjust housing situations or homelessness.
Climate Justice
Vulnerable communities face far greater risks of poorer health and economic outcomes from climate change. They need support to adapt to or recover from climate disruptions such as flooding, sea level rise, extreme heat, wildfire, and smoke.
Community Power
Marin’s hardworking nonprofits deserve the opportunity to focus on the work at hand. With multi-year, general operating support grants, we recognize the effectiveness of these organizations and shift the power from the foundation to the community.
