Last year, JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery donated $300,000 to support local non-profits. This year, the School and Communities Grant gifted 15 northern San Luis Obispo County non-profits $350,000.
“It just so happens that we see a great need for social services, health services, youth programming," JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery Senior Director Molly Scott said. "With that increase in applications, those rang true to a lot of the focuses that we wanted to award this year.”
Central Coast Community Health Centers was awarded $50,000 to help those who are primarily uninsured receive assistance.
“It got kind of sidelined a bit during the pandemic," CHCC Grant Writer Elias Guzmas said. "Some of the ways that mobiles were used changed a bit. With this funding from JUSTIN, CHC is going to expand again into the North County to take multiple mobile units, which will include dental units and primary care and immediate care units to the north county of San Luis Obispo."
“Reaching areas in San Miguel, Paso Robles, Templeton and Atascadero, they're going to expand their days of service by three and about eight hours a day, reaching almost an additional 2500 people," Scott added of CHC's expansion.
Tolosa Children's Dental Center is another recipient. It's the only non-profit pediatric dental center in the county serving underserved and uninsured children for 20 years.
“Our computers are in such a state that we can no longer update them anymore and part of the reason that that's a really big problem is data security," Tolosa Children's Dental Center Executive Director Alexandra Chamberlain said. "And we deal with patients health information, sometimes financial information, and making sure that our data is secure is paramount.”
The center will receive $28,000 to replace old software. It also has plans to better reach Mixtec-speaking families.
“We are going to develop some audio recordings that families can use a QR code to use to help explain what's happening with their children and what the next services or what's going on," Chamberlain added.
2025 JUSTIN Community Grant Recipients:
- Community Health Centers of the Central Coast (CHCCC): Expanding access to healthcare through mobile medical units serving low-income patients.
- Tolosa Children’s Dental: Upgrading IT systems at two pediatric clinics to continue providing critical dental care to underserved children.
- One Cool Earth: Supporting garden-based education for 4,500 students at Title I elementary and middle schools.
- Paso Robles Youth Art Center: Equipping the new JUSTIN Culinary Teaching Kitchen to provide culinary education to 640 low-income youth each year.
- Senior Volunteer Services: Enhancing safety and accessibility for over 3,000 seniors and visitors annually at the Paso Robles Senior Center.
- El Paso de Robles Pioneer Museum Foundation: Host 25 Pioneer Explorer Field Trips in 2025-2026, serving 600 Title I students with materials and transportation support.
- Studios on the Park: Provide 1,600 Title I elementary students free access to 30 art classes, including materials and a safe space for creative expression.
- Land Conservancy of SLO: Offer free outdoor environmental education, including transportation and materials, to 200 Title I K-6 students through 10 bilingual field trips.
- Paso Robles Joint Unified School District: Provide scholarships to 30 low-income youth for an 8-week basketball clinic, eliminating financial and geographic barriers.
- Paso Robles Library Foundation: Increase literacy access for 5,000 low-income students and seniors by purchasing 250 books for the bookmobile serving 200 public stops annually.
- Creston Activities Town Center: Add an HVAC system, making the CATCH facility usable year-round for 5,300 community members by regulating temperatures during summer months.
- Senior Citizens United, Inc: Empowering seniors in Atascadero with digital literacy and twice-weekly fraud prevention classes.
- Templeton Performing Arts Center Foundation: Modernize stage lighting for 9,000 annual attendees by replacing outdated equipment and reducing energy use by 75%.
- Templeton Instrumental Music Boosters Assoc.: Enrich the marching band season by offsetting costs to purchase new instruments.
- Central Coast State Parks Assoc.: Provide 400 additional students access to outdoor education by covering transportation costs for 10 field trips to state parks.
- Templeton Community Library Assoc.: Foster a positive reading experience for students by covering promotional costs and awards for the youth summer reading program.
