Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation Successfully Utilizes Impact Investing, Serving as National Model for Community Foundations Across the Country
North Lake Tahoe, CA (PRWEB) October 16, 2014 -- Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) based in Truckee, Calif., recently launched an unprecedented new model for serving the community’s needy and leveraged their $20 million in assets and invested in transforming a blighted 1950s Kings Beach motel into an integrated critical services center.
Community foundations traditionally raise and invest funds and then use earned interest to support local public benefits programs in their region through a competitive grant making process.
“We decided that to really stimulate social change in North Lake Tahoe for families and individuals in crisis, we had to be bold and innovative,” said Stacy Caldwell, CEO for Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation.
The result of this creative investment strategy is Community House, a welcoming center in the heart of Kings Beach, Calif., where community members access a multitude of social services in one location. TTCF leveraged their $20 million in assets to borrow $2 million dollars to buy the run-down motel. The organization raised funds in under two years and paid back the loan, never touching their interest-earning assets.
“The Community House Project is a great example of bold, creative impact investing that will serve as a model for other community foundations around the country,” said Brian Sharpe, managing director of UBS Institutional Consulting, the firm that facilitated the investment strategy for the foundation.
The TTCF Board of Directors broke the traditional community foundation investment model when they decided to leverage their assets to invest not only in a building renovation project but a new way of serving the community.
“Community House is a great example of maximizing donated dollars for public benefit. TTCF showed great leadership when they decided to provide a new space for several North Tahoe nonprofits to come together rather than take the safe route and only offer a traditional grants program,” said Andy Wirth, CEO, Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows Ski Corporation and TTCF board member.
Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation connects people and opportunities that generate resources to build a more caring, creative, and effective community. Since opening its doors in 1998, TTCF has awarded over $20,000,000 in grants and scholarships. For more information about TTCF, visit ttcf.net.
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Katie Shaffer, East River Public Relations, +1 (530) 214-8790, [email protected]
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