Advancing Community Resilience
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust and Institute for Sustainable Communities—alongside agencies, private and social profit organizations, and individuals—are building the Advancing Community Resilience Partnership. By tapping the strengths of existing relationships and fostering new collaborations, this effort works to collectively address pressing issues and community needs—ultimately helping build Maricopa County’s community resilience. Whether it’s the great recession’s disruption on Arizona’s economy, gaps in coordination among social profits, or the persistent threat of extreme heat on Phoenix residents, it’s imperative that Maricopa County communities evolve and become stronger by overcoming economic, social, and/or environmental vulnerabilities. This is community resilience.
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, in partnership with Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), convened a series of interviews, focus groups, and workshops on the topic of community resilience. The Trust wanted to learn firsthand from the community about regional efforts underway aimed at building resiliency in our nonprofit community and social sectors—our social profit sector as we like to call it. We sincerely thank the more than 200 individuals representing arts and culture, social services, healthcare, education, philanthropy, the private sector, and local and state government, for sharing perspectives, ideas, and candor; the contributions from these various dialogues are the impetus for the report Building Community Resilience in Maricopa County.
Piper Trust remains dedicated to its mission—to support organizations that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County. In an effort to enhance our work, the Trust has engaged ISC over the next several years to help us strengthen community resilience and social cohesion through strong collaborations and our grantmaking and initiatives.
Questions? Ideas? Comments? Email us at: [email protected]