REGION — San Diego Foundation recently announced its awarding a near-record of $131.1 million in grants to mostly San Diego-based nonprofits for the 2023 fiscal year, including a record $45 million to health and human services causes that address basic needs like housing and food.
“While San Diego is a wonderful place to live, not all residents experience the same quality of life,” said Mark Stuart, president and CEO of San Diego Foundation. “Along with our donors and partners, San Diego Foundation granted a record-breaking $45 million to address cost-of-living issues that affect local residents most for a more resilient region.”
This past year, the Foundation awarded 8,925 grants to 2,577 nonprofits. San Diego County nonprofits accounted for $109.5 million in local grants or 83.5% of grant funding.
Of the total $131.1 million granted, $45,780,692 went to Health and Human Services nonprofit organizations, including those that provide affordable housing, emergency food and shelter, food and nutrition services, youth and child development programs and workforce training, among other services.
In August, the Council for Community and Economic Research reported in its Cost of Living Index that San Diego is the 10th most expensive place to live in the U.S. due to its high housing, utilities and transportation costs, among other factors.
For the 2023 fiscal year that began July 1, 2022, and ended June 30, 2023, other highlights from the San Diego Foundation include:
- A $100 million gift from the estate of local entrepreneur Jay Kahn. This gift was the largest unrestricted cash gift to a San Diego nonprofit and the third-largest unrestricted cash gift to a U.S. community foundation.
- Awarding a record-breaking $4 million in scholarships to more than 1,000 local college students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college.
- Launching the Binational Resilience Initiative with $1.7 million in grants to U.S. and Mexico nonprofits to help the Cali-Baja region, extending from Oceanside to Ensenada, adapt to the impacts of climate change by leveraging cross-border connectivity and resources.
- Launching the Black InGenius Initiative with a $1.5 million grant to the University of San Diego to advance educational opportunity among rising sixth graders throughout San Diego County.
San Diego Foundation grew its assets to $1.4 billion. For more information about the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, view the annual report.
