Building healthy relationships, families and communities free from sexual, domestic and interpersonal violence

VNC Grantee — Peace Over Violence

Transforming Los Angeles County systems, policies, and practices to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations

VNC Grantee — Center for Strategic Public-Private Partnerships

Dedicated to ending abuse, empowering families and developing leaders

VNC Grantee — StrengthUnited

Eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity

VNC Grantee — YWCA of Glendale

Restoring families impacted by domestic and sexual violence through trauma informed, culturally responsive services

VNC Grantee — Jenesse Center

Empowering underserved Korean-American and Asian Pacific Islander families

VNC Grantee — Korean-American Family Services

Ensuring families live in a place of safety, health, and personal well-being, free from violence and abuse

VNC Grantee — East Los Angeles Women’s Center

Addressing domestic violence and sexual assault in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities

VNC Grantee — Center for the Pacific Asian Family

Dedicated to preventing and treating child abuse and violence in families, schools and communities

VNC Grantee — Richstone Family Center

About VNC

Founded in 1958, the J.B. and Emily Van Nuys Charities (VNC) has a long history of providing meaningful grants to organizations impacting the lives of Los Angeles County residents each year. Led by a three-person Board of Trustees, VNC prides itself on being nimble and entrepreneurial in its decision-making and responsive to its grantees.

In 2012, while celebrating over fifty years of transformative philanthropy, VNC Chair Terry Dibble and fellow trustees Robert Maloney and Morgan St. John decided to challenge themselves to do even more for their grantees. They educated themselves about gaps in philanthropic giving amongst various causes, to focus VNC’s giving on issues that are typically underfunded. Ultimately, they identified domestic violence prevention as one of those key causes needing focused funding and, within a few years, launched a large grant program to provide six-figure multi-year grants to a selected group of Los Angeles area nonprofits with domestic violence prevention missions.

VNC Grantees and staff from Executive Service Corps of Southern California (Photo and summary courtesy Executive Service Corps).

Today VNC continues supporting both their large grant program as well as over 20 smaller grantees, gifting over one million dollars each year to social service organizations fulfilling critical community work in Los Angeles County. To date, the J.B. & Emily Van Nuys Charities has gifted over $25 million in grants.

High Impact Giving

VNC wants its efforts to be more than a grant — our goal is to form a partnership with our grant recipients. We give in meaningful amounts to a select number of grantees, which ensures that each organization has adequate funding to help continue their work. VNC commits to providing funds for at least three years to help foster long-term development at the agency. These grants are not bound to specific projects, but rather to operational sustainability — and can even be directed to major programs within the agency. Additionally, VNC Board Meetings are held on-site at agencies we support. Through these recurring, quarterly visits, we learn more about each agency’s programs and the progress of their work.

Currently VNC’s predominant focus is on Domestic Violence Prevention (DVP). This has enabled us to create a “cohort” of our large grant recipients working to provide these services in Los Angeles County. Agency Executive Directors from the nine grantees meet quarterly with a non-funder facilitator. This enables them to compare approaches and discuss issues and solutions of common concern. To foster open and honest communication within the group, VNC Trustees pointedly do not attend or set agendas — which are determined by the DVP Cohort participants themselves — and only Executive Directors from these agencies can participate. These meetings have led to a new research project funded by VNC: an in-depth exploration of “failure to protect” laws and their impact on Domestic Violence. This project is currently underway at the UCLA Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families.

Who are J.B. and Emily Van Nuys?

The Van Nuys Building at 7th & Spring in Downtown Los Angeles.

James Benton (J.B.) was the only son of Isaac Newton Van Nuys. A farmer, rancher, and developer, Isaac was a prominent figure in the development of the San Fernando Valley, with schools, streets, libraries and the new town of Van Nuys, California being named after him. J.B. was born at 7th and Spring Streets in downtown Los Angeles, where the Van Nuys Building — the tallest and most expensive building of the time — continues to stand proudly today.

Despite the prominence of his family, in 1909 J.B. was able to quietly secure a marriage license before taking an overnight "business trip" to San Rafael, where he married his sweetheart, Emily Pond. While not much is recorded about Emily, J.B. was a banker and a leader in the development of Lake Arrowhead. He was also a trustee of the Hollenbeck Home for the Aged for 35 years, serving as chairman of the home’s board of directors.

The couple lived happily, though childless, and in 1958 J.B. and Emily dedicated their financial good fortune to supporting Los Angeles nonprofit organizations though the establishment of a charitable trust. J.B. passed away four years later, and upon Emily’s death in 1975 she willed the couple’s substantial holdings be held in trust and used to benefit worthwhile causes in Los Angeles County.