Aug. 17 — Celebrate Ventura County’s Nonprofits on National Nonprofit Day

The City Center 

The City Center, led by Executive Director Jim Duran and his team of case managers, therapists and mentors, have worked tirelessly to equip homeless families with children to rebuild their lives and become independent. The City Center is much more than a 30-room transitional living facility, it provides homeless families with a safe place to stay for one to two years, as well as in-depth mentorship, counseling, and assistance. No graduates of the City Center have ever returned to homelessness. 

The City Center relies on donations as they receive no government funding. Over 52% of their income goes towards housing, so they recently started a fundraising campaign to buy The City Center building at 837 E. Thompson Blvd, Ventura.  To date they have raised over $900,000 of the full purchase price of $3.95m, but they still need a lot more donations.  Consider supporting them on National Nonprofit Day August 17, visit https://www.gofundme.com/thecitycenter. 

Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation  

Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation is celebrating its 40th anniversary of providing comprehensive housing services and community economic development activities for individuals and families who are underserved in Ventura County.  The Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) has 1,129 units for low income and farmworker families, seniors 55 and older, and those with disabilities. At Cabrillo EDC, home is more than a place to live – it is the cornerstone of the community’s economic, environmental, and social wellbeing. To learn more visit https://www.cabrilloedc.org/ and consider joining them at their 40th Ruby Anniversary Celebration. 

Aspiranet Ventura County 

Aspiranet is one of California’s largest and most successful social service organizations. Founded in 1975, Aspiranet is a 501 (c) (3) California nonprofit organization with the mission of providing children, youth, and families with a foundation of support so they can thrive at home, at school, and in their communities. Aspiranet provides a spectrum of services in Ventura County, including foster and adoption services, behavioral and mental health services, educational services, and community-based family services. Aspira means hope… and they are a network of passionate professionals moving hope forward across California and throughout Ventura County. To learn more about this worthy nonprofit visit https://www.aspiranet.org 

Thousand Oaks Arts 

Thousand Oaks Arts (TOArts) delivers high-quality arts exposure to youth and world-class performances to the region, along with vital support for local nonprofit performing arts groups. As the nonprofit fundraising and presenting partner of the Bank of America Performing Arts Center at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, its mission is to enrich lives and strengthen the fabric of the community through arts education, and the presentation and support of visual and performing arts at the Bank of America Performing Arts Center and beyond. Their AccessArts program has recently launched a Grant that teachers and education professionals can apply to in order to support arts education in their facility. For more information, please visit www.toarts.org.  

Treasure Our Farms 

California agriculture creates an abundance of safe, healthy, and affordable food. However, farming and ranching are facing unprecedented challenges from insufficient water, labor, and housing resources; damage from fires and pests; and disadvantages from foreign competition and regulation. The Treasure Our Farms initiative educates, engages, and informs local communities about the value and beauty of local agriculture in California. Their mission is to broadcast information about farming and ranching by sharing inspirational stories to educate and diffuse misinformation. Ventura County farms & ranches contribute $3.5 billion to our county’s economy, provides 43,000 jobs, and $76 million in indirect business taxes annually.  Learn more about our local farming industry at https://treasureourfarms.com 

Other notable Ventura County nonprofits include: 

We spoke with Denise Bean-White, Culturalist and CEO of Consortium Media (CM), who specializes in linking nonprofits, charities and corporations together for cultural brand alignment programs and encourages all local businesses to align themselves with nonprofits and donate time and/or resources to these valuable community champions. CM works on many children’s nonprofit programs, including Youth in (Foster) Care such as Homes with Heart VC, Our County. Our Kids from Santa Barbara, CSEC Child Trafficking, Tobacco youth awareness programs and has just completed a Cannabis Youth Awareness program for Santa Barbara County.  

“The corporate philosophy of Consortium Media is to do well in the world by doing good works.  We focus on social change and behavior shift work in children’s issues?-?including foster family recruitment, children trafficking, homeless family transitional programs and more,” said Bean-White.  “We donate more hours than we make on nonprofit accounts, but when you understand the need and see the immense difference that these organizations make to our community, you can’t help but be proud of our involvement.”   

Bean-White understands more than most that our nonprofits deserve to be celebrated. 

“These are our unsung heroes in our communities.  I meet incredible people every day, whose missions are to serve the underprivileged in our community – what could be more motivating than that?  Nonprofits deserve our help, our support and our donations, so they can help more disenfranchised people in our society”.