Press Archive - Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation

Home hardening, insurance rates, and building better for wildfires: TTCF’s Lunch and Learn

by Eli Ramos, Sierra Sun

Published on May 20, 2025

In their latest Lunch and Learn, the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) invited three speakers to talk about wildfire risk mitigation for homes in the region. They touched on what homeowners could do to protect their homes, how cross-laminated timber could potentially help new builds resist fire, and communicating with insurance companies that keep raising prices in fire-prone areas.

Sierra Community House chats services in TTCF’s latest Lunch and Learn

Published in Sierra Sun on May 14, 2025

What exactly is "affordable housing"?

Is it defined the same everywhere, whether you live in the city or a ski mountain town? Are the same resources available to you no matter where you live?

To kick off Affordable Housing Month, Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation hosted a lunch and learn to dig into some of these questions.

While TTCF and our 27+ partners through the Mountain Housing Council determined a new definition to guide our work - achievable housing - affordable still applies here. Achievable encompasses all of the people in our region from unhoused to top-middle-income earners while affordable is specific to those earning 80% or less of the area median income.

As you can imagine, that's A LOT of us.

Denisse Vega Zarate, Housing Coordinator for Sierra Community House, shared the realities of local affordable housing- the developments, waitlists (up to 5 years!), and programs offered.

Read more.

Truckee Chamber of Commerce announces 2024 Core Values Fund Grant recipients

by Submitted to the Sun

Published on January 14, 2025

TRUCKEE, Calif. – The Truckee Chamber of Commerce announced the 2025 Core Values Fund Grant Recipients. This community event fund, established in collaboration with the Town of Truckee and administered by the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, is designed to support local nonprofits in the region or events that partner with non-profit organizations by providing essential marketing resources.

Celebrating the people who stand for Tahoe-Truckee’s Families

by Press Release

Published on January 14, 2025

TRUCKEE, Calif. – The Community Collaborative of Tahoe Truckee (CCTT), a program of the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF), recently honored three exceptional individuals with their annual awards:

The Chris Ballin Award honors contributions to cultural competency, equality, and social justice in our community
The Public Service Award of Excellence recognizes an individual who goes above and beyond in serving the community
The Partner of the Year Award recognizes an advocate of underserved communities and a champion of collaboration and equity

“This year’s awardees are individuals who have been making a significant impact in the community for a long time, often flying under the radar. It’s an honor to acknowledge their contributions in front of their peers and celebrate their hard work and achievements,” said CCTT Program Director Kristina Kind.

Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation hosts discussion on aging in place in Truckee

by Zoe Meyer

Published on November 14, 2024

TRUCKEE, Calif – On Friday, Nov. 8, the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation hosted a community discussion titled “Achievable Housing for All: For Now and the Future,” focusing on the housing needs of older adults in the Truckee area. The discussion, part of the Foundation’s ongoing speaker series, shed light on the challenges seniors face as they look to age in place and continue living independently in the region. The discussion was particularly timely, as recent community conversations have reinforced the growing concerns about the availability of housing options and services for aging residents. As a community foundation, the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation prioritizes initiatives that address the needs and well-being of local residents, and this month’s focus on aging in place aligns with those values. The Foundation regularly hosts these monthly forums to hear from specialists and experts on pressing issues affecting the region.

Could accessory dwelling units alleviate the housing crisis?

by Eli Ramos

Published on October 7, 2024

KINGS BEACH, Calif. – The Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) brought back their Housing Lunch and Learns earlier this month and kicked it off with experts Erin Casey and Thomas J. Powell as guest speakers. The session, called “Unlocking Potential: Recent ADU Research and Its Impact on Policy and Development” addressed accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as a potential solution for the housing shortages in North Shore and Truckee.

Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation awards $1M grant to Sierra Institute and Mass Timber Strategy

by Eli Ramos

Published in Sierra Sun on October 7, 2024

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Last week, the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF) awarded a $1 million grant to the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment—the biggest grant that TTCF has directed in its history. The money will go towards the Sierra Institute’s Mosaic Timber operation to help thin the area’s overcrowded forests, create a forest economy, and offer a new building material called Cross-Laminated Timber.

Washoe Tribe secures collaborative funding for a Lake Tahoe Community Liaison

by Ashley Beck

Published in Sierra Sun on June 28, 2024

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – The Wá∙šiw (Washoe) are a sovereign tribal nation who are the original inhabitants of DáɁaw Ɂága (Lake Tahoe) and its surrounding areas. Lake Tahoe is the Tribe’s most sacred place, and they consider it a living entity that needs to be honored and protected. Now, The Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, a formally recognized tribal government, has secured the funding it needs to establish a full-time Community Liaison. This liaison will represent its voice at community meetings and decision-making tables for the next three years.

2024 Truckee Tahoe Airport District Agency Partnership Program Opens July 1

by TTCF

Published in Sierra Sun on June 20, 2024

TRUCKEE, Calif. – [Correction: The informational workshop is on June 27 at 3:00pm, register here.] Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation is working again with the Truckee Tahoe Airport District on their 2024 Agency Partnership Program. The Agency Partnership Program proudly supports larger, regional projects and programs between local nonprofits and partnering regional public agencies with awards of $5,000 or more. Projects must align with TTAD’s public purpose and their mission to provide safe, high-quality services and facilities, reduce impact on airport neighbors and the environment, and invest in opportunities that increase community safety and provide sustained benefit to the entire Truckee Tahoe region.

Braddock Philanthropies, TTCF join forces for $10 million investment in Tahoe Truckee

by Sierra Sun

Published on June 20, 2024

TRUCKEE, Calif. – The Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation announced a groundbreaking $10 million commitment from Braddock Philanthropies in support of TTCF’s strategic initiatives over the next five years. This substantial gift is accompanied by a community challenge to match Braddock Philanthropies’ $10 million contribution, aiming to rally additional support from both local residents and part-time homeowners.

Summer Work in a Mountain Town: Dreamy. The Rent: Not So Much.

by Jen Murphy

Published in Outside on May 28, 2024

“I came for the winter and stayed for the summer” is a common mountain-town refrain. That sentiment, combined with a pandemic-fueled real estate boom, has resulted in a dearth of affordable housing, both seasonal and permanent, in mountain towns across America. In many small western communities like Steamboat Springs, Durango, and Snowmass, Colorado; Sun Valley, Idaho; and Mammoth Lakes, California, it used to be that employees and locals lived in houses, and tourists stayed in hotels. The reverse is now true: houses are monopolized by Airbnb and VRBO rentals and second homeowners, and some hotels are being purchased by ski resorts and converted to affordable employee housing.

Truckee, North Tahoe community leaders look to South Lake Tahoe for advice on addressing homelessness

by Laney Griffo

Published on May 28, 2024

TRUCKEE, Calif. – `While the Truckee-Tahoe region might not have the same struggles as a big city like San Francisco or Los Angeles in terms of the unhoused population (ours is in the hundreds rather than the thousands), it doesn’t make our population any less important to address and help. A group of community leaders and organizations in Truckee and North Tahoe have joined together to form a coalition to tackle the unhoused issue. The Tahoe Truckee Homeless Advisory Committee of the Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras, supported by the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation (TTCF), is chaired by Nevada County Supervisor Hardy Bullock, Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, and Truckee Vice Mayor Jan Zabriski.

Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation Accepting Workforce Scholarship Applications

by Press Release

Published in Sierra Sun on May 17, 2024

From May 15 - June 30, 2024, individuals pursuing in-demand careers are invited to apply to Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation's Workforce Scholarships. Eligibility and requirements are available at www.ttcf.net/scholarships/. Since 2022, TTCF has brought together generous donors to help address workforce development in key careers such as education, STEM (science, technology, education, and mathematics), aviation, and vocational pathways. These are the stories behind the donors investing in our shared future.

Phyllis McConn, Community Impact Officer, Recognized for Her Work with Women and Girls

by Sierra Sun Submission

Published on April 8, 2024

TRUCKEE, Calif. – Soroptimist International of Truckee Donner honored 14 women and two girls at their Celebrating the Best for Women event on March 21 at the Glenshire Club House. Phyllis McConn was honored as our Woman of Distinction (WOD) for all her community work to support women and children. Currently Community Impact Officer for the Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation, she selflessly gives to all who need her help and has done so for many years.

Unlocking Tahoe’s dirty secret: Data from a multiyear monitoring project

Published in Tahoe Daily Tribune on March 19, 2024

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – Clean Up The Lake, the environmental non-profit responsible for the 72-mile cleanup of Lake Tahoe, has recently completed a two-year monitoring effort on the lake. CUTL conservation dive teams revisited 20 litter hotspots in the 0 to 25-foot depths along the Nevada shoreline that were identified during the 72-mile cleanup of Lake Tahoe in 2021. Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation is a proud funder of this project.

Accessory Dwelling Units: A potential [housing] solution

by Zoe Meyer

Published in Sierra Sun on January 16, 2024

TRUCKEE, Calif. – There is a severe shortage of housing options in Truckee and while Accessory Dwelling Units might not be the only way to solve the crisis, it is a solution that could make a dent in the problem. Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) stand as compact, independent dwellings situated on the same property as the primary residence. They offer essential living amenities like a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area. These units present a practical solution to the pressing demand for affordable, diverse, and accessible housing in our region, potentially playing a pivotal role in expanding long-term workforce rental options and providing an additional housing choice.

Jeff Hamilton Legacy Fund Juniper Awards: A family affair

by Zoe Meyer

Published in Sierra Sun on January 16, 2024

On Dec. 17, 2023, nine Tahoe Truckee community members were honored for their commitment, fearlessness and imagination in their work, craft, art, and sport. This was the inaugural class of the Jeff Hamilton Legacy Fund Juniper Awards. The fund recognizes community members across six categories: art, music/writing, community impact, trades, medical care, and winter Olympics. In the last months of his life, Truckee local, Jeff Hamilton, worked with his family and the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation to create the Jeff Hamilton Legacy Fund, a philanthropic fund that would allow him to continue to give after he was gone.

Placer Supervisors approve $175,000 in defensible space grant funding for qualifying eastern Placer County residents

by Press Release

Published in Sierra Sun on January 12, 2024

TAHOE CITY, Calif. – The Placer County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the acceptance of $175,000 in grant funding for the development of a Defensible Space Fuels Reduction Program, aimed at assisting low-income senior and disabled residents in eastern Placer County. The program will provide qualifying residents with assistance to improve defensible space around their homes and properties to reduce the risk of loss of life and property in the event of a wildfire. The funding is made possible by the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation’s Forest Futures program.