Silicon Valley's 'invisible suffering' spurs foundation

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As foreclosures mount and food banks run dry, one of the nation's largest community foundations has decided to target the remainder of its 2008 philanthropy to keeping families from slipping below the poverty line.While the majority of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation's $1.9 billion in assets is disbursed according to the wishes of its donors, the foundation gives away about $9 million a year as it sees fit.Because the economic downturn is putting such a pinch on Bay Area families, the foundation wants to fund agencies that provide basic needs such as food and shelter in one of the wealthiest regions in the country. "In the Silicon Valley there is an invisible suffering," said Emmett D. Carson, foundation president. While those who have gotten rich off the tech boom are still managing, a whole sector of families hit by the triple-whammy of foreclosures, layoffs and gas and food prices are one car breakdown or health crisis away from financial disaster."Those are the parents who are coming to the food pantries at night and taking bags of groceries out to Volvos," Carson said.The nonprofit sector is unprepared to take on the increased demand, he said. At a recent meeting of 25 nonprofit leaders, convened by Carson, attendees agreed the need is worse than during the tech bust of the early 2000s. Silicon Valley Community Foundation, formed in January 2007 by the merger of the Community Foundation Silicon Valley and Peninsula Community Foundation, will break from its tradition of funding a host of arts and culture and social programs to sending the bulk of its discretionary funds to basic needs.One million dollars will go to food and shelter in 2008.In addition to groceries and affordable housing, the foundation will direct its giving to helping build a safety net that includes financial planning to prevent foreclosures and build savings, math help for low-income middle schoolers and legal help for immigrants. Transit-oriented development also made the list."It's almost like the safety net is fraying a little bit," said Cindy McCown, senior director of programs and services for Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. "The foundations are starting to get it and that's encouraging."Last year, about 1,800 people a month called Second Harvest for referrals to free food programs. This year, calls are averaging 3,000 a month, she said. Nationwide, community foundations are finding themselves increasingly in a position of emergency assistance as government funding has dwindled, said Steven Lawrence, director of research for the Foundation Center in New York, the nation's leading philanthropy research organization."It's challenging for philanthropy to fill the role of government because it's minuscule in comparison, but you definitely see it turning that way, given the economy," he said.A recent survey of 320 community foundations by the Council on Foundations in Arlington, Va., found that a third had increased their giving to try to fill the need.Michele Jackson, executive director of Shelter Network in San Mateo County, plans to apply for a grant.She oversees seven shelters, which are becoming increasingly crowded as people lose their homes and flood the rental market, driving up rents. Rents, which are now roughly on par with mortgage payments, are making Bay Area living so expensive that people who never thought they'd need housing help are turning up at shelters, she said. Jackson's typical client is a single mother with two children and at least one job. Shelter Network annually serves 3,500 people, including 1,500 children."I think the foundation's focus on safety net services is timely and responsive. Bigger companies are now laying people off -- and people who don't have a partner to pick up the slack are going to start making their way through the shelters," she said.E-mail Meredith May at mmay(at)sfchronicle.com(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)