Beneficiaries

Communities of Opportunity                            

Click Here to Read the 2008 Annual Report

A Message From Our Benefactors

The California Endowment, the Stuart Foundation, and the Walter & Elise Haas Fund have been supporters of the
Communities of Opportunity (COO) effort, and we are pleased with the progress we have seen with our investment. COO has done precisely what it needed to do - move from a short-term services focus to concentrate on a systems change approach that can bring about meaningful change. Let's not forget that it took years for these communities
to fall into their current state of despair and there are no overnight miracles or cures that will bring them back to the vibrant communities they once were. Long-term investments in systems and policy changes are keys to the success of these initiatives. Our own research and learning about successful community-change initiatives; like the Harlem Children's Zone and San Diego's Market Creek Plaza neighborhood project tell us that as many as 7, 10, or even 12 years of investment are required to reap visible, transformative changes. Finally, improving troubled or diistressed neighborhoods is critically important work that is inherently challenging. It requires front-end investments that are disproportionately process-driven: such as community engagement meetings, relationship-
building activities, and developing a sense of trust and cohesion among key partners, community residents, and
organizations. Without this foundation being thoughtfully and patiently laid down, the prospects for long-term sustainability vanish at the first politically driven ill wind that comes its way. This is why taxpayer dollars often fail to reach their programmatic potential, because meaningful results cannot be attained with the short time frame of a two-year or four-year election cycle. We need more, not fewer, courageous efforts to transform low-income and distressed neighborhoods across this country.
Sincerely,

Robert K. Ross, M.D.
President & CEO
The California Endowment
Los Angeles

Pamela H. David
Executive Director
Walter & Elise Haas Fund
San Francisco

Christy Pichel
Director President
Stuart Foundation
San Francisco