RAP Quarterly Newsletter Vol. 30
Hello everyone!
 
Spring Season brings temperatures in the 90s, flowers in bloom and, unlike last year, the good news that the number of positive COVID-19 cases has been trending down. Although we need to keep practicing safety protocols such as wearing masks and social distancing, many nonprofits--including us!--are looking forward to improved prospects for activities in late Summer or early Fall. 
Here is some RAP news I would like to share with you:  

RECENT GRANTS 

The RAP Board allocated the following grants to these organizations recently: 

  • American Jazz Institute partnership with Palm Desert High School
  • Loma Linda University Children’s Health Indio Clinic - Big Hearts for Little Hearts Desert Guild
  • Children’s Variety of the Desert

Also, RAP’s Mental Health Request for Proposal released in January focused on these areas:

A. Substance abuse 
B. Depression 
C. Anxiety/Stress 
D. Homelessness 
E. Suicidal ideation/self-harm behaviors 
F. Isolation/Grief/Loss

The Desert HealthCare District contributed $150,000 towards this RFP for a total of $300,000 allocated to the following nonprofit programs which are in line with our respective organization’s funding goals. 

  • Palm Springs Boxing Club’s Health Motivation Boxing Program
  • Soroptimist House of Hope – Substance Use Disorders Treatment for Women
  • Society Inland Empire’s Autism Virtual Social Recreation Program
  • Boys and Girls Club of Palm Springs “Be There” Module
  • Cove Communities Senior Association /The Joslyn Center’s Reducing anxiety, depression, and isolation through social and recreational programming 
  • Desert Aids Project’s Health Outpatient Drug-Free 
·        Voices For Children’s Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program

Changes at RAP
As many of you may know, Eva Guenther-James, after spending more than 20 years as RAP’s Grants Manager, has bid farewell to RAP. Prior to her departure, she was administering the CAREs Grant for Skilled Nursing Facilities. The SNF program was terminated March 1.

Eva is well known in our nonprofit community for always looking beyond RAP’s resources to connect people to one another and to bring their awareness of services in the community. After taking time for a short break from work, Eva will then be ready for future opportunities that will allow her to continue to be involved in the community. We wish Eva the best!

Christine DeMonaco will be taking over as the Interim Grants Manager. Christine has been with RAP more than a year in the role as the Community Services Manager. She has been handling the “Grants” duties on a part-time basis for several months.  Christine worked on the transition to Foundant, our new on-line grants program and has been the lead on the most recent Mental Health Request for Proposal and the COVID-19 Recovery Collaborative Grant with the Desert HealthCare District.  

Thoughts on Re-Opening

As stated earlier, we will continue to monitor the State and County Guidelines for Re-Opening. If conditions are safe, we hope to be in back in the office in June. In the meantime, you can always reach us by email and we will get back to you right away. Check out our website: www.RAPFoundation.org for our email addresses.   

Be safe, take care; wishing you all good health. 

Lety De Lara, CEO
Light at the End of the Tunnel
By V. Manuel Perez, Riverside County Supervisor and RAP Foundation Board Member
Today, the county and the state reached significant milestones. As of Wednesday, April 7, Riverside County moved into the orange tier and our numbers continue to trend downward. Riverside County achieved two metrics last week, reporting a 2.3 percent positivity rate and a health equity positivity rate of 2.4 percent.

California state officials this week announced that, if we continue this positive trend, the state will fully reopen its economy on June 15. The move is based on meeting a statewide goal to administer more than 20 million vaccine doses, including four million in the state’s hardest-hit communities and hospitalization rates continuing to decline.

Reopening by June 15 will largely depend on two criteria: vaccine supply must be sufficient for anyone 16 and older who wants a shot and hospitalization rates must remain low and stable. The state’s mask requirement would remain in place.

The county is also seeing a substantial increase in vaccine availability and vaccination appointment availability. There is now a surplus of appointments available at community providers and public health sites across our region. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 3,000 appointments were available at the Indio Fairgrounds from Monday through Friday. Appointments can be made at rivcoph.org/COVID-19-Vaccine-with-Registration.

I encourage everyone 16 and older to get the vaccination. I recently received mine and felt no side effects from the shot. This is a simple act to protect ourselves, our family, our friends, and our community.

I want to thank all the healthcare workers and frontline essential workers who helped us get to this milestone. Thank you to all the residents who took safety precautions and helped their family and friends get us to this moment. My thoughts continue to be with the families who lost loved ones over the last year.

We still have a way to go but I am more than optimistic that we will make it back to a new normal.
Supervisor Perez pictured with his vaccine card.
RAP Foundation Joins Tobacco Taskforce 
by Trinidad Arredondo, Community Services Manager
The Tobacco Taskforce is comprised of youth-serving organizations and local nonprofits tackling youth access to tobacco in the Coachella Valley. Taskforce members are working to build support in Indio by demonstrating the impact of the illegal sale of tobacco to youths. Currently, we are having a dialogue with the Indio City Council on the importance of a Tobacco Retail Licensing policy (TRL). A Tobacco Retail License can provide for the monitoring of the sale of tobacco products to minors. We have presented to the council a couple of times in recent months.
   
At this time, 22 cities in Riverside County have a TRL but Indio and La Quinta and two others not in the Coachella Valley, do not. We are working with the final four communities to have a TRL process in place. If your organization would like to more information, please contact Taskforce President Kindra Medel at kindramedel@gmail.com. 
 
The RAP has joined the taskforce to support healthy youth development and promote thriving communities.  If you are interested in getting involved in this effort, please email Trinidad Arredondo at tarredondo@rapfoundation.org or call 760-771-7701. 
RAP Office Available for Lease
As you may know, RAP makes space available for nonprofits and below-market rates. Currently, 25 organizations are taking advantage of not only these low rental opportunities, but also the ability to be located in the same building with others. This has led to a great deal of collaboration amongst these nonprofits. This, in turn, leads to better services for resident clients and more efficient delivery of those services.

Good news: RAP currently has space for one more organization. If you and your organization find this an attractive possibility—and why not?—contact Mireya Reyes by email at mreyes@rapfoundation.org.
Grants Corner 
By Christine DeMonaco, Interim Grants Manager
The Regional Access Project (RAP) Foundation and The Desert Healthcare District have partnered once again to provide financial assistance to Coachella Valley nonprofit organizations directly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The priority for this most recent collaborative fund was to provide operational/capacity support to the community-based organizations serving vulnerable populations. 
 
The Boards of both agencies recently approved contributions to a new $200,000 collaborative fund for a COVID-19 recovery effort. RAP’s Board contributed an additional $31,655 in response to the multitude of applicants. We had an extraordinary response of 72 nonprofit applications.  In summary, 31 nonprofit organizations will receive a total of $231,655.  
 
We are pleased to provide this financial support to nonprofits, allowing them to continue to serve their clients at a time when their traditional funding sources are not available or not an option.
CNA CORNER
By Stephanie Minor, CNA Director
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Find out more, and order today before the introductory price goes up by clicking the button below.
Accessing Funding Information at Center For Nonprofit Advancement 
Center For Nonprofit Advancement is a Funding Information Network partner of Candid.

As a training partner, CNA provides free access to the most comprehensive information available on foundation and corporate giving. It features electronic resources, local trainings, and professional staff to assist visitors.

For more information on how to access Candid tools at CNA, contact cna@rapfoundation.org. We are looking forward to connecting you with this valuable service. 
WWW.RAPFOUNDATION.ORG