Silicon Valley One - Fall 2008 - (Page 14)

Adrián Cerda, shown at a 2007 community action meeting with fellow leaders, speaks out for universal access to affordable, quality health care. seminars, with the goal of preparing members to serve on local committees and in other community leadership roles. “Social capital is defined by the relationship between people. It’s the level of social interaction,” Miller says. “We’re not building homeless shelters. We’re all about building the sector. We’re about increasing that social capital.” Miller isn’t alone in recognizing the value of social capital—or in understanding that engagement is about the individual, but also much larger than the individual. In their 2003 book Better Together, Harvard Professor Robert Putnam and New Hampshire Charitable Foundation President Lewis Feldstein write that scholars, government officials, business leaders and community organizers alike “have increasingly recognized the essential contribution of social capital to the social and economic health of countries, regions, cities, and towns, to the success of organizations, and to individual accomplishments and well-being.” Community Connections Elizabeth Alvarez exemplifies how individual accomplishments mesh with community progress. Alvarez has five children, ranging in age from 1½ years to 15 years, including six-year-old twins. Many parents with that kind of responsibility would buckle under the pressure, but Alvarez has managed to complete a bachelor’s degree in political science and begin work on a master’s degree—all while helping PACT support three schools it started in East San José’s Alum Rock district and develop the ACE Charter School, designed to help underachieving middle school students catch up to their classmates in time for high school. Why work so hard? “Parent participation is key to having a successful school and successful students,” Alvarez says. “I got started with PACT not really thinking that it was going to change my life the way it has.” The more civic engagement she sees in a community, Alvarez says, the better the quality of life in that neighborhood. “Communities are connected by the concept of self-interest,” she explains. “Although my elderly neighbor has no children in school, and I’m a mother of five, we have similar self-interests. That person wants to live in a safe community where they’re not in fear of getting beat up on the corner by youths, and I want my kids to be in good schools and safe from harm, too. We all want a good quality of life and good schools and a safe community. If my children are being served at school, and they’re getting a good quality education, then they’re less likely to be out on the corner trying to pick a fight.” Philip Cosby, a 63-year-old retired scientist, couldn’t agree more. That’s why, after a decade working with Peninsula Interfaith Action, or PIA, through his church in Mountain View, Cosby remained active in that community even after moving to Belmont two years ago. His activism began when he and a fellow parishioner attended a PIA gathering to help decide whether their congregation should join the group. “What we saw were ordinary parishioners just trying to improve the community and taking the risk to go talk to people at City Hall,” he remembers now. “It was inspiring.” Initially, the group advocated for an affordable housing project in Mountain View, but it soon began gathering resources for parental counseling and later lobbied for construction of an after-school teen center for peter mAiden 14 o n e innovation through philanthropy www.siliconvalleycf.org http://www.siliconvalleycf.org

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Silicon Valley One - Fall 2008 Contents From Emmett D. Carson The New Face of Need Five-star Philanthropy Ready to Learn Board School Civic Citizens Built to Last siliconvalleycf.org What If?

Silicon Valley One - Fall 2008

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