SJF LAUNCHES AN ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN
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After a very successful first year, we have decided to raise an endowment to finance our work into the future. An endowment will make us sustainable by paying our operating costs so that nearly 100% of every dollar we raise works directly for social justice in Ventura County.
The James Irvine Foundation has helped to inspire this campaign by awarding SJF a three-year challenge grant so we can continue providing financial support to local organizations while we embark on building an endowment. For every two dollars we raise for endowment the Irvine Foundation will give us one dollar to support our work in the community.
Our goal is to make the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County the region's leader in social change philanthropy, a dependable resource into the future. We hope you will join us in helping ensure our efforts continue to create a healthier and more equitable Ventura County for all of us.
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| SJF GIVING CIRCLE CALENDAR
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MON, July 14
5 to 6:30pm
Proposals distributed
THURS, August 7
4:30 to 7:30pm
Select top proposals
THURS, September 11 5:00 to 8:00 pm Conversations with submitting organizations
THURS, September 18 4:30 to 8:00 pm
Select grantees
WED, October 8 Grant awards announced
THURS, October 9
4:30 to 7:30pm
Future planning
THURS, November 13 5:30 to 7:30 pm Celebration and Grantee Reception
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Dear Tricia
Welcome to the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County's newsletter, our effort to keep you up to date with our activities and concerns. We hope you will enjoy news of our events, profiles of donors and grantees, information about social justice issues in Ventura County, as well as links to interesting websites and other resources.
This inaugural issue provides an overview and introduction to the work of our organization. Future E-newsletters will be briefer, and we hope will be of great interest to all who support social justice in Ventura County. You can help our community grow by forwarding this newsletter to like-minded friends and family members.
If you have questions or ideas, please contact, SJF Director, Dr. Marty Fujita at msfujita@sbcglobal.net. We'd be happy to hear from you.
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WHO WE ARE
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The Social Justice Fund is a grant-making program created and guided by a "Giving Circle" of community donors and hosted by the Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF). The Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) is an institutional partner of the Social Justice Fund. The Social Justice Fund has been financially supported by over 70 people and organizations with major grants provided by the McCune Foundation, Rosenberg Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation and the School of the Pacific Islands Foundation.
What we do: The Social Justice Fund (SJF) for Ventura County provides grants to groups organizing their communities to change the root causes of social, economic and environmental issues affecting people in Ventura County. Our goal is to make a difference in problems of justice and fairness. Our grants support grassroots organizations to develop leaders, mobilize their communities and increase their effectiveness.
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SJF SEEKS GRANT APPLICANTS FOR 2008
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 As you know, the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County provides financial and other kinds of support to grassroots organizations working to remove structural and institutional barriers to social, economic and environmental equality and change the root causes of injustice. We are seeking proposals that use a community organizing approach to advocate for social transformation. SJF respects the wisdom and experience of local communities in all their diversity and affirms their power to unite and create lasting change.
The Social Justice Fund has announced a Request for Proposals for its second year of grant making. A total of $50,000 is available for the funding year, which begins in November 2008. The Giving Circle will consider proposals in the range of $500 to $10,000. We expect to make several small grants (under $3,000) and a few larger ones.
This year's grants will focus exclusively on community organizing towards systemic change in Ventura County in one or more of the following areas: economic, educational, gender, sexual orientation, environmental and/or racial justice; intercultural understanding, the rights of immigrant communities, and/or cultural competency in the system; leadership development and engagement in social justice. Please see the complete Request for Proposals for more information.
Note: Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, June 30, 2008.
Please help us expand our pool of candidates. If you know groups involved in community organizing who might welcome our support, please forward this to them.
To download the Request for Proposals please click on the following link to the Ventura County Community Foundation's website:
VCCF-SJF 2008 RFP
Want to Know More About Community Organizing?
Check out this link. It's not a fancy website, but it provides a thoughtful and thorough description along with some practical tips.
Community Organizing
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CENTRO MUJER, ONE OF OUR 2007 GRANT RECIPIENTS
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 In March a number of us visited Centro Mujer in Oxnard, one of SJF's 2007 grantees. We met with Director Gabriela Alvarado and three other women, all of whom are dedicated to Centro Mujer's mission of helping low-wage workingwomen identify the problems they face and develop skills to change them.
Centro Mujer was originally started by a small group of concerned women meeting in each other's homes. As word spread, their numbers grew, and last year our funding helped them to obtain their own facility. Their cheerful offices include a meeting room with a vibrant mural celebrating women's strength, compassion and concerns, and a children's play area. At Centro Mujer childcare is always available.
Centro Mujer, now part of CAUSE, the Coastal Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, runs workshops each year to help women become activists in their communities. Mujer's greatest challenge seems to be getting women started, in part because the 10-week commitment is a big one, especially for women who have not been politically or socially active on their own behalf. However, the energy and passion of the women who have already taken the training is convincing others to join. To expand their reach Centro Mujer plans to take their workshops to women in other regions of Ventura County.
In addition to being an educational and organizing resource for women, Centro Mujer collaborates with other institutions. Mujer sends women to leadership programs sponsored by the Gamaliel Foundation and works with University of California Santa Barbara to organize the annual Women's Economic and Environmental Justice Conference. This conference educates low-wage workingwomen and helps them to become active in efforts for economic and social justice. Participants discuss issues such as living wage ordinances, health coverage for the uninsured, and environmental and other justice issues. These women are also encouraged to get involved in voter registration, voter education and get-out-the-vote efforts. Last year, more than 100 women and family members attended the Women's Economic and Environmental Justice Conference. More than 80% of them were from Ventura County.
Our earnest conversation with the women of Centro Mujer impressed us. Clearly this vibrant organization is building a new coalition of women who are our natural partners for addressing issues of social, economic, and environmental justice in Ventura County.
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MEMBER PROFILE: Karen McAuley 
Why I Support the Social Justice Fund
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I inherited my mother's and grandmother's "political genes." We care deeply about the world, criticize its governments, bemoan its problems-out loud! And we do what we can. In the early 1960s I marched with my mother for the first time in Washington with Women Strike for Peace. We have written letters to newspapers, corporate executives and elected representatives, and we have supported many causes in many ways.
Last year friends in the Ojai Library Book Group told me about the Social Justice Fund for Ventura County and suggested I go to a meeting to learn more.
What SJF is doing makes so much sense to me. Helping grassroots groups organize and grow as they work to remove the barriers to real equality-whether those barriers are prejudices, traditions, or laws (written or otherwise) makes life better for every one of us. Getting to know the people involved in this work enriches my world and gives me hope.
So here I am, a first-year member of the Giving Circle, thinking about how to increase my support to a much higher level for SJF's three-year endowment campaign, and putting my own shoulder to the wheel by editing this newsletter. What else can I do?
Karen McAuley, Editor
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"CHANGE NOT CHARITY"
Become part of the change and join the Social Justice Fund today!
To join, contact Marty Fujita
email:msfujita@sbcglobal.net cell: 805.640.5044
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