As we eagerly welcome the arrival of spring, it brings with it a sense of renewal and anticipation for the vibrant days ahead. Just as nature blossoms with new life, we too find ourselves embarking on exciting developments at The Community Foundation.
In March, we devoted attention to Women’s History Month, a time to honor the remarkable women in our community who fearlessly lead nonprofits. Their dedication is a testament to the transformative impact that women continue to make in shaping our community’s narrative.
On Employee Appreciation Day, we took a moment to express our gratitude to the incredible team at The Community Foundation for their outstanding efforts, especially in light of our recent recognition as recipients of the Blue Diamond “Change Makers” award by SLO County Family-Friendly Workplaces. Their unwavering commitment and passion contribute immensely to making this organization an exceptional place to work. We celebrate each member of our team for their invaluable contributions. Learn more about our staff.
We also carry heavy hearts as we reflect on the loss of one of our own. Dr. Brendan “Ben” McAdams, a philanthropist of SLO County whose dedication and generosity leaves a lasting mark on our community. Ben’s enduring legacy echoes far and wide, touching lives and igniting inspiration. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who join us in commemorating his memory.
Looking ahead, The Community Foundation’s annual events are just around the corner. We warmly encourage you to consider joining us as an essential participant in these initiatives. Your support ensures the success of these events and strengthens our collective impact.
Thank you for your continued support and commitment to our mission. Together, we look forward to a bright season of growth, appreciation, and community connection.
~Heidi McPherson, CEO Community Foundation San Luis Obispo
The policies linked below are referenced in our Donor Advised Handbook and are here to support you in setting up a fund. Click on the links below to open a policy in a new tab on your browser. For any questions regarding these policies or for inquiries about Donor Advised Funds, please contact us at 805-543-2323 or email info@cfsloco.org.
After a decade-and-a-half of partnership, The Robert H. Janssen Foundation and CFSLOCO established an endowment fund to continue the legacy of a beloved community member.
The Robert H. Janssen Foundation is a wonderful example of community philanthropy at its finest.
For over 20 years, the spirited generosity of Robert H. Janssen has lived on through the dedicated work and contributions of The Robert H. Janssen Foundation. From youth fitness programs to college-readiness courses, the Janssen Foundation has provided countless funding opportunities for local youth across the county – all in the name of this local hero.
Now, a new chapter begins for the estate as the baton is passed over to us as we continue to distribute the valuable gifts of Robert H. Janssen for years to come.
ABOUT BOB
Robert (known by friends and neighbors as Bob) was a lifelong resident of San Luis Obispo, an active supporter of youth and community activities, and devoted a considerable portion of his life to youth sports. His personality was unpretentious, and he had an encyclopedic knowledge and passion for leadership in civic and sports matters.
After a long and fulfilling life, Bob passed away in 1996, but not without leaving behind the first of many impactful gifts for our community’s youth.
His family estate was established with a gift of $2 million that was to be distributed to young athletes and students hoping to continue their athletic careers and higher education. Bob’s investment in the future of the community is allowing his legacy to flourish and his life’s work to continue long after his passing.
THE ROBERT H. JANSSEN FOUNDATION
Since 1996, the Janssen Foundation has awarded millions of dollars to support local youth programs. One such program is the North County Adaptive Sports & Recreation Program (NCASARP), which provides year-round supervised activities for the developmentally disabled of Atascadero, Creston, Templeton, Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, San Miguel and Morro Bay.
In 2006, the directors of the Robert H. Janssen Foundation decided to join forces with The Community Foundation of San Luis Obispo County and decided they needed help with soliciting, evaluating, and finalizing proposals for grants within youth sports. Due to The Community Foundation’s ample resources and trusted positioning in the community, the directors of the Robert H. Janssen Foundation established a donor-advised fund to support their meaningful efforts. For more than 15 years, a strong partnership developed between the two foundations resulting in more than 231 grants.
Most recently, we offered proactive grants during the pandemic to support youth during shelter-in-place protocols; these powerful grants provided ‘busy bags’ from the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum and offered childcare by the YMCA, to name a few.
A NEW CHAPTER: Robert H. Janssen Foundation Youth & Youth Sports Fund
Our grantmaking partnership is now soaring to new heights: in order to support youth and youth activities further, The Janssen Foundation has decided to close its private foundation and transfer the estate to The Community Foundation of San Luis Obispo County.
“The Community Foundation enabled the Janssen Foundation to extend its reach, to do a better job of vetting grant applications and monitoring results of grants,” says Warren Sinsheimer, President of The Robert H. Janssen Foundation, Inc. “When the directors decided after 25 years that a new direction for the Janssen Foundation was in order, they turned to the Community Foundation again. Today, the funds of the Janssen Foundation are a separate fund within the Community Foundation where those funds can indefinitely fulfill Bob’s vision of supporting youth and youth sports in San Luis Obispo.”
We are honored to take over the stewardship of Robert H. Janssen’s legacy. The legendary estate will be administered as a separately held endowment fund, to be called the Robert H. Janssen Foundation Youth & Youth Sports Fund.
“Robert Janssen was a special soul who devoted a great deal of his life to a special cause — our youth,” said Heidi McPherson, CEO of The Community Foundation of San Luis Obispo County. “We look forward to honoring Bob’s legacy by continuing to support and enrich youth activities across the county.”
Program Overview & Objectives:
Through the generosity of the Robert H. Janssen Foundation, grants are available to local nonprofit organizations providing youth enrichment programs and/or youth sports programs in the City of SLO and adjacent area within San Luis Obispo County. The Janssen Youth & Youth Sports Fund seeks to support programs that enrich the lives of local youth and ideally reflect the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets. Mr.Janssen was a lifelong resident of SLO County and devoted a considerable amount of time to local youth sports and other community and youth activities. He valued the benefits for all youth that could be gained through participation in team activities with positive adult mentorship.
Janssen grant funds should represent only a portion of the funds required to implement the program, and a preference is to support direct service costs. The Janssen Youth & Youth Sports Fund seeks to primarily support youth sports programs in San Luis Obispo County that provide access to all segments of the community regardless of income level. Secondly, the Fund will support youth enrichment activities in the City of San Luis Obispo and adjacent area, with an emphasis on active participation over educational programming.
The maximum grant award will be $5,000. The Robert H. Janssen Youth and Youth Sports Fund is open for applications from January 16, 2023 to March 15, 2023, at 5pm. You can learn more and apply by CLICKING HERE.
Happy National Hispanic Heritage Month – a month-long celebration that recognizes the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. With a population rich in Hispanic heritage, our county is full of diverse programs, collaboration, and organizations that not only better the lives of Hispanic Americans and their families, but positively impact all SLO County residents.
The Promotores Collaborative of San Luis Obispo County was established by the Center for Family Strengthening and works to build, foster, and support a network of promotores – a group of community leaders who serve as liaisons between their communities and health and social services providers.
Promotores are community-based and are made up of outreach members and volunteers who work to eliminate barriers between public and private organizations and underserved minority populations. They provide training, emotional support, and materials in order to empower a healthier community. They act as family educators, health or patient advocates, outreach workers, peer educators, and system navigators.
Their impactful work ripples across our community: agency partners and community organizations seek their bilingual and bicultural expertise to provide Mental Health Interpretation services, provide health outreach education at community events and food distribution sites, and help promote healthy family functioning. By working closely with their community partners, the Promotores Collaborative identifies resources needed to benefit San Luis Obispo County residents and complements (not duplicates) existing efforts of the County’s Health and Human Services Department.
“The Promotores have created a tremendous impact in their community. The Latinx community has expressed that they feel welcome at the Public Health Mobile Clinics, food bank distributions, and other local events where the Promotores participate,” says Erica Ruvalcaba-Heredia, Director of Programs. “Families have shared that when they see Promotores they know they can trust them, and they will always provide the right resources for them.”
Promotores are unique because they provide services in Spanish, Mixteco, and occasionally in English. They are culturally competent, they go into the community to do outreach, business, and residential canvassing, they support the mobile vaccine clinics and provide direct services to the Latinx community in San Luis Obispo County. They serve as community liaisons and go above and beyond by working weekends and after business hours in order to warmly connect Latinx neighbors to various community resources and agencies.
In spite of the Pandemic, the Promotores have continued with their leadership educating the Latinx community by providing culturally appropriate and translated (Spanish, Mixteco & English) information. The Promotores Collaborative have been recognized by the Public Health Department, the Behavioral Health Agency, First 5 SLO County, and SLO County Food Bank as essential workers in San Luis Obispo County.
This year, the Community Foundation continued our support of this inspirational program by awarding $20,000 in funding to the Promotores through the Women’s Legacy Fund. “We are very excited and grateful to The Community Foundation because we will be able to continue providing education and support to the Latinx community by providing financial literacy classes. Some of these topics include setting goals, saving and building savings, dealing with debt, understanding credit reports and scores, and others. Our aim is to provide the tools and information to help the community set and achieve goals; build skills in managing money, credit, and debt; and choose financial products that are right for them. Learning to use these tools will help them reduce the financial stress that they are dealing with, especially during these uncertain times.”
Moving forward, the Promotores aim to continue to build the Promotores Collaborative capacity in order to promote health-related resources and create new ways to involve Latinx neighbors in SLO County, specifically in rural and underserved communities.
Today, the American Disabilities Act turns 32. This important civil rights law prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities within schools, transportation, and all places that are open to the general public.
Across San Luis Obispo County, allies and activists are dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. One of these individuals is Paul Wolff: a local architect and accessibility advocate.
Paul Wolff advocates for an accessible, diverse, and welcoming community that values disability and encourages the full participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of life. Not to mention, the annual Paul Wolff Accessibility Advocacy Awards (PWAAA) were established in honor of Wolff. These awards are implemented through Access for All, a field of interest fund through The Community Foundation, and honor those who strive to make San Luis Obispo County a barrier-free community.
Paul – Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Cal Poly State University – has an incredible life story. Paul was born in 1929 in Hamburg, Germany to Jewish parents. After his father’s arrest during Kristallnacht in 1938, young Paul and his family fled Nazi occupation to London, England in 1939. Fortunately, as the political climate grew more volatile, they were able to secure a 30-day transatlantic crossing and landed in San Francisco on August 1, 1939 – only 30 days before the start of WWII in Europe.
In the 1950s, Paul was drafted into the US Army and served in Europe. After his service, the GI Bill of Rights enabled him to enroll in the graduate program of architectural studies at The Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. After graduation, he began his architecture career working with renowned architect Richard J. Neutra in Los Angeles and later started his own architecture practice in Palo Alto. In 1971, Paul began teaching Architecture at Cal Poly State University. It was during this time at Cal Poly that he began to recognize the need for accessibility in architectural design, partly due to the effects of his sister’s advancing MS diagnosis.
After earning his master’s degree in Environmental Psychology from the University of Surrey in Guilford, England, Paul returned to Cal Poly where he introduced Environmental Psychology and Universal Design into the School of Architecture’s curriculum. In July of 1990, architectural accessibility finally became a national requirement as the American Disability Act (ADA) was passed into law. After 23 years at Cal Poly, Paul retired to focus on community involvement. He and his wife Marion, who escaped from Vienna as part of the Kindertransport, continue to talk to students and groups sharing the stories of escapes from Nazi Germany and exploring the impact of the current violence we see in our society today and its relationship to the evils of prejudices and discrimination. Paul worked with local activists to start Access for All, which promotes accessibility, supports advocacy work, and provides connection through The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County. He currently serves on the Access for All advisory committee.
We are extremely grateful to know and work closely with Paul – he is an inspiration to us all. Read his own account of this incredible story, which we are honored to share with you.
“Today there is so much for which to be grateful. Since I have been allowed to survive for 92.5 years, there is so much to recall. I started long, long ago, so far distant, in a radically different universe, within a far different culture and language.
The first 9 family years in Hamburg, Germany, ended abruptly on the infamous Kristalnacht, 11/9/1938, as the Gestapo invaded our house to arrest my father despite his 4 years as a wounded/decorated army captain fighting for Germany in WWI . Yet, not until many years later in SF, did I fully comprehend the politics of the times.
These were events that must never be forgotten! Towards that end, Marion and I devoted much time in our later years to sharing both of our Holocaust experiences with high school and university students in Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, as well as locally. Marion’s exodus at 8, from Vienna, via the Kindertransport was always of great interest to our audiences. Today, I gladly continue to talk to students and local groups about learning from our recent destructive history and its relationship to the evils of current prejudices and discrimination.
We were among the fortunate few. Six months after Kristallnacht we were able to reassemble our small family in London and board the Hamburg-American freighter SS Dynteldyke for the 30-day Atlantic crossing to SF.
The subsequent 9 years were filled with growth and challenge from school, sports, and a variety of jobs in San Francisco. New freedoms and responsibilities emerged as I advanced to UC Berkeley, Yosemite, Livermore, and Texas, Missouri, and Germany courtesy of the US Army.
My 1953 rejection from OCS (Officers Candidate School) actually worked to my benefit. Subsequently, being drafted into the US army led to my assignment as the operator of a 20-ton crane in a chaotic divided post-war Germany. That year – 1954 – gave me the exciting opportunity to explore Hamburg, Mainz, Paris, Stromboli, Sweden, Finland, and London.
Upon my discharge from the US army, the GI Bill of Rights allowed me to enroll in stimulating graduate architecture studies at The Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Thereafter, I obtained passage home on the USS Langfitt by teaching and counseling some 400 Hungarians seeking refuge in the USA.
[I] spent the following 3 years living and working with renowned Architect Richard J. Neutra in his LA studio. By 30, in 1960, I found and wed a young German visitor from London, Marion Pollak. Three precious children followed: Karen, 1962, Linda, 1964, Charles, 1966.
During the following 10 years as I started my architectural practice in Palo Alto, I became increasingly aware of my sister Eva’s advancing disability due to her MS. I also noted that the CA building code tended to ignore accessibility issues. In 1970 the emerging Department of Architecture at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo was expanding… and I applied.
By September 1971, we had sold our remodeled Eichler home in Palo Alto and moved to SLO as I started teaching my first classes. Two years later I had to decide my future. To advance at the University would require a Masters Degree.
Due to the strong influence of Neutra’s humanistic architecture and my access concerns, I chose to pursue a Master’s program in Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey in Guilford, England. This allowed Marion to support the 5 of us by working as a secretary at the University.
Upon my return to teaching, I introduced Environmental Psychology and Universal Design, creating a more inclusive environment (including people with disabilities) into the architectural curriculum. National interest in the rights of all people to have equal access to our environment was increasing, which led me to work with many local activists to start Access for All in SLO County.
In July of 1990, architectural accessibility finally became a national requirement as the American Disability Act (ADA) became the law of the land. After 23 years at Cal Poly, I retired in order to do more consulting and designing, returning to my home-based architectural practice. Community involvement plus travel to fascinating places further enriched these memorable years.” – Paul Wolff
Access for All Advisory Committee
Consider making a donation to Access for All by clicking HERE.
Robert (known by friends and neighbors as Bob) was a lifelong resident of San Luis Obispo, an active supporter of youth and community activities, and devoted a considerable portion of his life to youth sports. His personality was unpretentious, and he had an encyclopedic knowledge and passion for leadership in civic and sports matters. 
