Statewide Region Local News: Community Service & Support


All Local Community Service & Support News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: Kerry Wood, CEO of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, says the organization researches areas of need to help donors direct their contributions.
What Is a Community Foundation?

By channeling funds to a number of nonprofits working on various issues in a given region, community foundations help solve big problems throughout California.

Image caption: There are more than 300 community service districts in California.
Community Services Districts, Explained

Community service districts can do most anything a city government can do. Here’s how they work and how to start one.

Image caption:
Celebrating Veterans Every Day

About 1.8 million veterans live in California. Here are some organizations dedicated to serving the needs of those who served America.

Image caption: Stand Down events provide veterans with valuable resources including housing assistance, medical care, and a solid community of support.
Veterans in Need ‘Stand Down’

At hundreds of Stand Down events throughout California, veterans agencies and organizations come together to deliver life’s necessities.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

03/17/2025
Ruby Marichalar couldn’t get an in-person meeting after California’s crime victim compensation fund denied her claim. She wasn’t the only one.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

03/17/2025
A $5 billion pot of federal money set aside to help people on the verge of homelessness pay the rent is running out of cash — and no one has a plan to keep the roughly 60,000 renters, more than 15,000 of them in California — from losing their housing after the last dollar is spent.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

02/26/2025
Read on for details about a report on the 2-year Yolo County Basic Income Program which ended in April 2024.

California Local Pin Marker From Local News Matters...

12/26/2024
COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS ARE proving that they play a vital role when it comes to public safety in California. The California Reentry Institute, directed by Collette Carroll to help potential parolees, has graduated more than 230 incarcerated individuals in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

12/08/2024
Image for display with article titled Doing Good: Kiwanis International

Founded as a business organization in 1915, the Kiwanis Club now serves millions of children worldwide.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

12/01/2024
Image for display with article titled Doing Good: Lions Clubs International

In the wake of the First World War, a group of business leaders built an international organization of more than 1,000 local service clubs in less than a decade. It has grown to be one of the biggest philanthropic organizations in the world.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

11/25/2024
Image for display with article titled Doing Good: The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks

What happens when a 19th century drinking club becomes an enduring force for good? We explain.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

11/10/2024
Image for display with article titled Doing Good: The American Legion

The organization responsible for the GI Bill and Veterans Day continues to help service members, veterans, and their families.

California Local Pin Marker From Monterey Herald...

11/04/2024
Learn more about the annual fundraising day on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, this year falling on December 3.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

10/21/2024
Image for display with article titled Doing Good: Rotary International

The first service club is over 100 years old and still doing good in the world.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

10/07/2024
Image for display with article titled Doing Good: The League of Women Voters

The decades of work to win the right to vote for women was only the beginning.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

09/30/2024
Image for display with article titled Doing Good: Soroptimist International

Making a better world for women and preparing women to make a better world.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

09/30/2024
Image for display with article titled The Changing Nature of Doing Good

The legacy of ‘service clubs’ such as Soroptomists and Rotary lives on in a new generation of social clubs and volunteer organizations.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

08/12/2024
Image for display with article titled Anil Dash Explains: What Does a Board of Directors Do?

The writer and Internet dynamo shares his experience and reveals what happens in the board room.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/12/2024
Beginning Monday, 150 households in Fresno County are expected to receive a $500 prepaid card to spend on anything they’d like — no strings attached. It will be the first of 12 monthly recurring payments those Southwest Fresno and Huron residents will receive as part of a guaranteed basic income program for low-income families.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/16/2024
Gov. Gavin Newsom launched the community school initiative with $4.1 billion in grants to connect students and their families to medical care, counseling and other services.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

03/04/2024
Image for display with article titled California Election Workers Return After COVID and Conspiracy Theories

They had to get through the pandemic, election denial and scary envelopes. While some left, counties now say they’re having better luck recruiting poll workers.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

01/04/2024
Image for display with article titled California Legislature Opens 2024 Session: Here’s What’s on the Agenda for the New Year

The budget deficit, fire insurance, reparations, artificial intelligence top early legislative slate.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/03/2024
“Progress remains slow,” according to a recent report on faculty diversity at California’s community colleges. For Nikia Chaney, the sole full-time Black faculty member at Cabrillo College, the experience is personal.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/01/2024
Emery Unified took a targeted approach, including paying teachers extra to stay after school and tutor students.