Where Service Meets Hope
In love with Santa Cruz County since the early 1990s, Eliza Linley moved here permanently nearly 20 years ago and has since become deeply rooted in the redwoods, the Monterey Bay, and the community that surrounds them.
But Eliza is also clear‑eyed about the challenges. As an ocean swimmer, she feels firsthand how climate change is reshaping the bay. Teaching English in the citizenship program at her church, St. John the Baptist, she sees immigrants striving to acquire literacy while working long hours. Her students can’t find affordable housing, making it nearly impossible to live near their jobs. Drawing on her background as an architect, she is contributing to a small affordable housing project at St. John’s. And as a visual artist and singer with the Santa Cruz Chorale, she understands how the arts uplift both artists and audiences, offering “visions of beauty that translate into hope for all of us, particularly in the light of national turmoil and the crises many wrestle with day to day.”
A Gift to Last Generations
Several years ago, Eliza began partnering with the Community Foundation through her donor-advised fund, a giving account that is easy, tax-smart, and simple to set up. More recently, Eliza was motivated to work on her estate planning and came to us to document her charitable intentions through a Memorandum of Charitable Intent (MOCI)—a straightforward document that outlines how she wants her legacy to support the causes she cares about. Through that process, she envisioned four named endowed funds dedicated to the arts, the environment, education, and addressing homelessness, to be established with a future gift from her estate. Inspired by the possibilities, Eliza chose to bring that vision to life now. She went ahead and created the endowed funds so she could see their impact firsthand. Her MOCI remains on file to direct a future estate gift into those same funds—ensuring her generosity grows and endures for generations.
She says, “The creativity and innovation I see at the Foundation have made it feel like a partnership in which we all work together for the betterment of this wonderful place where we live. My faith tells me that loving and serving my neighbor is at the heart of the good news. The Community Foundation is an inclusive partnership that embodies the best of us, and what I believe we all hope for.”
