This month we welcomed Kiel Lopez-Schmidt, Community Vision’s new Central Valley Regional Manager, to our team. Kiel comes to Community Vision with many years of experience in community-based architecture, food access, and more. Learn more about Kiel below and join us in welcoming him to our team. What were you doing before joining the team…
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By Joanne Lee, Community Vision’s Director of Consulting Services. Cross-posted from the Foundation Center’s Blog. For years, Community Vision has been a leader in providing expert consulting services and resources that build the real estate and financial skills of nonprofits throughout Northern and Central California. These services complement our lending activities by ensuring that nonprofits…
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Photo: Mayor Ed Lee celebrating the ribbon cutting of Women Audio Mission’s (WAM) new SoMa space in 2014. Community Vision guided WAM as they revamped their board and launched a major capital campaign. After working with our consulting team, WAM went on to work with our lending team to secure a $1.4 million loan to help purchase their…
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Last month, Oakland’s Destiny Arts Center, a former Community Vision client, was recognized as one of the best creative arts programs in the country. With more than 25 years in Oakland, the after-school dance and performing arts nonprofit received the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the nation’s highest honor for these programs. The…
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Photo: East Oakland Youth Development Center in Oakland, CA. Community Vision provided EOYDC with $8.5 million of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) toward a total project budget of $9.75 million to finance the renovation and expansion of its program and headquarters space. Last week, the US Senate approved the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by…
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Photo: Alice Rocha at the 2017 Fresno Community Facilities Challenge. Left to Right: Alice Rocha, Mary A. Rogier, Joanne Lee, and Karen Sullivan. For eleven years, Alice Rocha has spearheaded our Central Valley office, significantly increasing our ability to provide critical resources to the area. In January 2018, she will leave her full time role…
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By Mary A. Rogier, Community Vision’s President It’s been an especially difficult time for Northern California this month for anyone reading the news, thanks to a series of horrifying natural disasters which almost seemed to be coordinated – as if they are trying to send us a message. And maybe they are. For example, climate scientists…
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By Guy Baldwin, Community Vision’s Policy, Research, and Information Manager A legislative logjam that had blocked solutions to California’s housing crisis was cleared last month as the legislature passed, and Governor Jerry Brown signed, a suite of fifteen bills that add funding and remove roadblocks to affordable housing development. The result will be more opportunities…
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The San Joaquin Valley community of Clovis is addressing a challenge shared by many others in Northern California: an increasing population of low- and moderate-income elders who need long-term care. Some elders already have Medi-Cal insurance and others spend down assets for care and become eligible for coverage. When some elders can no longer obtain…
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Founded more than thirty years ago, East Bay-based Women’s Cancer Resource Center (WCRC), began as a peer-to-peer organization offering support groups for women with cancer. Since then, the organization has broadened and diversified its programming to include a wider variety of services supporting people fighting cancer, especially low-income women. Serving more than 5,000 clients annually,…
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San Francisco — The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund of the U.S. Treasury announced awardees of its 2017 CDFI Fund Financial Assistance (FA) and Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) Awards. The Community Vision received a $1.1 million FA award and a $2 million HFFI award. Community Vision will use this FA award to provide low-rate…
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In a normal year, Congress sets appropriations for federal government agencies in July, debates them in September, and approves them in time for the start of a new fiscal year on October 1. But this is not a normal year, and it may be as late as December before we learn the fate of the Community…
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