In 1999, Greg DesBrisay and Sonya Sigler founded the DesBrisay Sigler Family Foundation, which is an independent private foundation. Family members serve as officers and board members of the foundation and have sole control of the grant-making decisions. The Foundation serves a few interests that are important to the founders and does not make grants to individuals:

Equity and Inclusion

Sonya has been fighting for equal rights and inclusion since the third grade. It’s hard to believe that today women still have to fight for equal rights and opportunities. Supporting women and their journey to equality on any number of fronts is one of the central causes we support. Sample organizations are:

  • Kiva – Join us in making micro loans to women around the world trying to make a difference in their lives and others.
  • I Support the Girls – Help girls and women get the undergarments and feminine hygiene products they need in these troubling times, through donations of cash or products/clothing.
  • Kori Development Project – What started out as an effort to stop female genital mutilation has expanded into providing education and an ecosystem of support for girls and women in the Kori Chiefdom in Sierra Leone. 
  • And so many others – Planned Parenthood, ACLU, MothersEsquire…

National Parks

If you know the theme of our kids’ names, you know that National parks are important to us. The National Park Service is woefully underfunded for the amount and types of resources under its management and it cannot possibly adequately support the number of yearly visitors to the Parks. The National Park Foundation website has an enormous amount of information on the Parks’ needs and is a good place to start to learn about the projects and needs of particular parks. To learn more about the NPS, check out the parks in your local area (our closest one is Fort Vancouver) or take a look at the stellar Ken Burns’ film – America’s Best Idea.

Sensory Processing Disorder

Sensory Processing Disorder is, simply put, when the senses do not work together properly. There are three main areas of sensitivity: tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive senses. Some of these sensitivities are developmental, like the ability to sit and concentrate for long periods of time. These areas are developed by movement of all kinds, the opportunity for which traditional playgrounds used to provide.

Kindergartners are obviously learning this and upper graders have already learned it, but many children (and adults) need help in this area to occupy their bodies so that they can concentrate. Stress balls and small movement items are what adults use in meetings to fulfill this same need. Sensory Processing Disorder routinely is misdiagnosed as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-Active Disorder)

We have done a tremendous amount of research in this area and to that end, Sonya worked with the staff of the San Carlos Charter to write several grant applications to the Peninsula Community Foundation to put equipment in each of the classrooms. Take a moment to learn more about this disorder and the main proponents of research surrounding this disorder, Carol Stock Kranowitz and Lucy Jane Miller.  These books are also a helpful place to start: The Out-of-Sync Child; The Highly Sensitive Child; and Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight.

Literacy and Financial Literacy

Education is important and literacy is at the root of any good education. Financial literacy is very important to make it through life successfully and the most common teacher is the school of hard knocks. All kinds of questions arise around financial literacy  — How much money do you need to live? What kind of an apartment or house can you afford? How do you save for a rainy day? What happens when you car breaks down? Can you really retire at 65? Can you afford to pay for college? Can you balance your checkbook or online accounts? All of these questions and many more are important to answer through education specifically related to financial literacy.

We support building the Children’s Library at the Turner Public Library in Turner, ME. There are many websites and books that have a lot of good information regarding literacy and financial literacy.