Clayton County Foundation for the Future: Impact the Future of Your Community

Emily Sadewasser, Clayton County Foundation for the Future Coordinator

This year, the Clayton County Foundation for the Future granted nearly $18,000 to local nonprofits for projects promoting quality of life and vibrant communities. We joined numerous supporters with a grant for the Turner Park Splash Pad in McGregor, which opened this summer. 

“Quality of life in our rural communities is so important, especially now,” said Haleisa Johnson, Foundation board member. “Things are tough for families, and the splash pad is accessible to everybody.”

This story—along with the countless others like it—demonstrates the importance of the Clayton County Foundation for the Future. Like all community foundations, we are uniquely situated to improve our region through supporting innovative solutions and creating powerful partnerships. From November 12 to 18, we celebrate Community Foundation Week, a time when we can share and reflect on the stories of impact over the last year. Though you may not yet know your local community foundation, you’ve likely felt its impact.

That’s because the Clayton County Foundation for the Future, along with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and 900+ other community foundations across the country help to bring donors and residents together. Community foundations work to support the efforts that will help the places we call home continue to flourish and grow.

Disaster preparedness is one of the many ways community foundations take the long view for their communities, working collaboratively to understand our region’s greatest needs and use our strengths – convening stakeholders and connecting donors with causes they care about – to address those needs. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Foundation made grants to the Clayton County Food Shelf and the Shepherd of the Hills Crisis Fund to help feed hungry families and assist them with emergency housing, rent, utilities, and fuel.

As our region’s critical needs continue to evolve, we’ll continue working hard to meet them. As we enter the giving season, millions of people from every background will be looking to give back to the communities that have supported them. They’ll also look to ensure that their heartfelt giving—however they choose to give—will have the most impact. That’s why so many of them will choose to give to a community foundation.

A gift to your local community foundation is an investment in the future of your community. We like to say that community foundations are “here for good.” At the Clayton County Foundation for the Future, we don’t think about the next election or business cycle — we think about the next generation and the next after that.

That can seem a daunting task, but it’s one we all share. During Community Foundation Week, I hope you’ll join us in recognizing our collective impact and the difference we can make together. To make a gift for the future of your community or learn more, visit dbqfoundation.org/ccff. Follow us on Facebook to find out about the ways people like you make an impact every day.