We were founded in 2003 with a mission to improve access to healthcare throughout the Yakima Valley. As our understanding of our community and what constitutes a healthy individual, family, and community expanded, so too did our philanthropic focus.
As a community foundation, we are a tax-exempt public charity that exists to build and strengthen our region by bringing together people and organizations that want to make a difference.
We listen to our community and those impacted most to understand the needs and community solutions. We work collaboratively and provide leadership, support, and funding to solve challenging issues and initiate positive and lasting change. We make decisions for the greater good. Everything we do is because we believe it will make a positive change in our community.
Located in heart of rural Central Washington, the Yakima Valley is rich in natural resources and diverse cultures, all with a strong reliance on the land and water for economic prosperity and survival. Abundant agriculture, protected forests, and tribal lands - all ancestral land of the people of the Yakama Nation describe the place we proudly call home.
Over time, cultural and economic divisions have developed as a result of disparities in access to opportunities shaped by intentional and unintentional racism, bias, oppression, and historical trauma. Inequities are apparent in our institutions, our neighborhoods, our schools, our health, and our perceptions and interactions with each other.
We believe people in our valley should have equitable access to opportunity, and when equity is addressed our community will be stronger economically, healthier physically and mentally, and better prepared educationally to meet the challenges we face.
We center our work on equity and justice in education, health, and civic engagement by creating access to opportunities for those who have been historically and frequently left out or left behind.
We believe as a philanthropic organization we have a responsibility to understand our impact by raising issues, questioning systems and decisions, and addressing policies and practices that may be well-intentioned and meant to work for all but miss the mark.
