The mission of the La Casita Foundation Foundation is to garner financial resources to maintain the gardens around La Casita del Arroyo, a neighborhood meeting house designed by Myron Hunt during the Great Depression. The La Casita Foundation Fund is a Nonprofit Agency Fund at Pasadena Community Foundation, which allows a local nonprofit to pool its assets in a larger, diversified, professionally managed portfolio with cost-effective investment management fees. The organization is the sole beneficiary of the fund, which can opt to receive an annual payout to support operations.
La Casita Foundation was established in 1985 with a gift from the Pasadena Garden Club. The Garden Club continues to provide volunteer labor and oversight of a professional gardener, while La Casita Foundation and its volunteer Board raise funds annually to support this work. La Casita Foundation has made some significant strategic decisions that involve partnerships with the City of Pasadena, the Pasadena Community Foundation, and the Pasadena Garden Club. In partnership with the City of Pasadena, it launched a capital campaign to raise funds to restore the kitchen, bathrooms, and meeting room.
The refurbished facility is now better equipped to handle the needs of local agencies for meetings, including upgraded catering and audio-visual capabilities. In addition, La Casita Foundation has committed to honoring the intent of the original gift from the Garden Club to use the funds for the maintenance of the garden. To this end, it has created a fund at the Pasadena Community Foundation to hold the garden’s endowment. Yearly distributions from the endowment will supplement annual fundraising to pay for the operating expenses of the garden. According to La Casita Foundation Board Member Tom Seifert, “partnering with PCF made a lot of sense. We are able to pool our funds with their assets and access a more diversified investment portfolio with professional oversight.”
Jennifer DeVoll, President/CEO of the Pasadena Community Foundation, feels that the collaboration between these entities serves the community.
“La Casita has created this public-private partnership to ensure the preservation of the garden, the restoration of the meeting house, and better access to this resource. “It’s a win-win-win! We are so pleased to play our part in managing this charitable asset for Pasadena.”
Learn more about La Casita del Arroyo.