12 Sonoma Valley nonprofits receive Catalyst Fund grants

The Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund this week announced the recipients of 12 Recovery Grants, which will fund local nonprofits to the tune of $229,045.

Catalyst describes itself as a “temporary philanthropic fund” with the goal of improving the community’s collective response to the pandemic. The fund has so far awarded $1 million in local grants in support of vaccination, food security, youth mental health, financial support of businesses and individuals, according to a Catalyst news release.

The objective of the grants program is to provide flexible funding for local organizations to support their recovery needs with priority placed on the organizations serving those hardest hit by the pandemic, according to a Catalyst description of the program.

The Catalyst Fund received a total of 28 Rgrant proposals since announcing the program on July 21.

Catalyst co-chair Simon Blattner said the fund has made it easier for nonprofits to “make it through a very tough couple of years.”

“We have proved what a great community can do quickly when we come together in a common cause,” said Blattner.

Here’s a list of the 12 grantees and their proposals:

• Becoming Independent — $20,000 to fund the transitional staffing necessary to create a new hybrid model of service.

• Boys & Girls Club Sonoma Valley — $20,000 to provide staff pandemic recognition for going above and beyond to support their high-risk students for the past 18 months.

• Council on Aging — $17,500 to provide for six more months of hybrid programming to address the social isolation among older adults living with dementia.

• Pets Lifeline — $20,000 to address the quadrupling of demand for spay/neuter procedures

• Sebastiani Theater — $20,000 to hire a part-time marketing development manager for one year to shift programming, restore the theatre’s economic vitality and increase outreach to more diverse audiences.

• Sonoma Arts Live — $16,545 to execute the CDC’s layered approach to safety during their indoor shows by purchasing needed air filtering, hiring a special cleaning crew and sanitizing show equipment.

• Sonoma Overnight Support — $20,000 to support SOS’s absorption of the meal preparation and deliveries to homebound seniors in the Springs, who were formerly serviced by Vintage House.

• Sonoma Valley Communications Corp (KSVY) — $15,000 to ensure ongoing emergency coverage and to provide staff recognition.

• Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation — $20,000 to help purchase and install a new patient/visitor screening kiosk in the main visitor entrance and to provide 22 weeks of drive-through testing.

• Sonoma Valley Museum of Art — $20,000 to expand digital and in-home learning tools, tested and piloted during COVID, for its Art Rewards the Students (A.R.T.S.) program.

• The Botanical Bus — $20,000 to help expand bilingual wellness programming in the Springs by providing six Farm Worker Clinics and eight in-person Wellness Workshops at La Luz Center this fall.

• Vintage House — $20,000 to implement a tracking database to enable staff to reopen services safely, and fund a two-day, team-building staff retreat.