Greetings neighbors, “It’s our economy, not the economy.” A few years ago, I heard USC professor Manuel Pastor say these words, and something shifted for me. Communities have more agency than we give ourselves credit for. Thinking of Whatcom County’s economy as “ours,” reminds and invites the people who live here — “us” — to shape it...
Hi neighbors, We’re doing our best to keep up with fast-moving federal policy and program changes and their local effects. As I write, news has just broken that some $12 billion in federal health funding to states to track infectious disease and provide mental health and addiction treatment has been terminated. In our recent survey of local...
Happy 2025 neighbors, We try hard at the Whatcom Community Foundation to anticipate and support people’s needs, whether it’s learning food preferences, making schedule accommodations or ensuring that event setups are welcoming and accessible. And yet recently I was caught off guard, the proverbial “deer in headlights” when a meeting attendee arrived who required a hearing accommodation....
Whatcom MLK Day Events Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed annually on the third Monday of January to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a pivotal leader in the Civil Rights Movement. This day serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggle for racial and social justice and calls...
YOU and are invited to help us fill the Mount Baker Theatre for a FREE community screening of the movie UnCharitable, followed by a panel discussion about the movie’s themes and their potential local impacts. Chuckanut Health Foundation, Mount Baker Foundation, United Way of Whatcom County, and Whatcom Community Foundation are cohosting the film. Collectively, we strongly believe that Whatcom’s...
If there was a proven way to triple the odds of a local child going to college while improving their mom’s mental health, would you support it? Good news: You can! After years of study, the Community Foundation launched its Child Savings Account (CSA) program two years ago in partnership with Mercy Housing NW, which provides safe, stable homes...
The Whatcom Community Foundation Youth Philanthropy Program (YPP) was created for students to engage in experiential based learning opportunities that foster leadership, technical and critical thinking skills. YPP connects youth to the community through charitable giving. This year the team will focus on learning about youth homelessness and youth mental health challenges that often exacerbate youth...
Earlier this year, the Whatcom Community Foundation partnered with the City of Bellingham to learn together about the needs and challenges of our local small and mid-sized housing and shelter providers. The findings were compiled in the a report in September 2023: Capacity Building for small and mid-sized housing and shelter providers: Needs, priorities, and...
Happy Summer, Neighbors! In keeping with the spirit of optimism that maximum daylight brings, we’re continuing our focus on economic opportunity in Whatcom County with a spotlight on employee ownership. As an option for business owners that brings a variety of both individual and collective benefits, employee ownership offers a lot of upsides. Read on for...
Hello Community Builders! How is it almost Memorial Day already? Time flies when you're breaking ground on our county's first community benefit project! More on that in a later issue. For now it's neighbor time: backyard BBQs, front porch visiting, summer concerts, farmers markets and all the other ways we get outside and get to know the...
