Helen Kupka looks at big picture with Coronado Community Foundation
By Beth Wood
Helen Kupka, chair of the Coronado Community Foundation Board, had misgivings before moving to the Crown City in 2010. But her husband, Sig, was determined.
“Sig wanted a boat in his backyard,” the former Silicon Valley resident said, speaking from her Coronado Cays home. “I was ready to kill him! But now you couldn’t get me out of here with an atomic bomb.
“I’ve never lived anywhere before that I wouldn’t live anywhere else. People here care about each other. I’m so invested in Coronado.”
Few people could argue with that. Kupka’s list of accomplishments here is long and diverse. One of her biggest ventures yet is helping to create and grow Coronado’s first and only community foundation, which she now leads.
“Helen may not have been here that long, but she has made quite an impact,” said Kelly Purvis, senior management analyst with the city of Coronado. “She always sees the big picture. She can look at something, see the immediate need and figure out a solution.”
That skill set perfectly fits Kupka’s current position. In October 2020, she and Purvis attended the National Conference for Growing Community Foundations in Wichita, Kansas. They returned home wondering why Coronado didn’t have a like-minded foundation of its own.
After the trip, Kupka and a small group of other volunteers talked with foundations in Chula Vista, Rancho Santa Fe and points in between. Kupka’s team also researched what existing nonprofits were doing in Coronado.
“We saw that our city didn’t need another siloed nonprofit,” said Kupka, who served on the Coronado Cultural Arts Commission from May 2019 to late 2020. “One group can take a slice of the work, but it's not able to address all the challenges. A community foundation's mission is to identify unmet needs, assess what’s needed, scope it out and enable it.”
Officially launched in 2021, the Coronado Community Foundation — which Kupka chairs — is building a body of funds for the long term. The organization is aware that will take many years.
At the same time, she and the board are concentrating on discovering immediate needs that aren’t being met. The foundation started with $21,000 worth of grants and wrote $1,000 checks to 21 of the most active nonprofits in Coronado. The foundation also had meetings with those groups to discuss their goals.
Currently, the foundation is developing its Exceptional Families Program, a collaboration with Camp Able Coronado, the Coronado Public Library and other local organizations. After discovering the city has few resources for people who have loved ones with special needs, the Exceptional Families Program was created to access stimulating engagement programs and respite services for family caregivers.
The goal is to provide free activities for loved ones with special needs while also providing social time and respite for their caregivers and parents. Kupka heads the steering committee, which receives guidance from the program’s parent and caregiver advisory council.
“It's a model that doesn't exist here,” Kupka said excitedly. "We're planning a pilot event on Earth Day (April 20) and a bigger family affair May 18. We're hard at work.”
Purvis noted that the Exceptional Families Program will require a unified effort.
“I know a lot of people who are dealing with these issues feel isolated,” she said. “This program engages arts groups, the public library and social organizations. It is very innovative.”
In addition to grantmaking, the foundation’s first big project resulted in the upgrade of the audio-visual system of Coronado High School’s 570-seat Main Stage Theatre.
The Coronado Cultural Arts Commission asked the city for $250,000 to replace the antiquated system. But it soon became clear the project would cost more than that.
As Community Foundation chair, Kupka encouraged several groups to apply for grants from San Diego County for different aspects of the project. These organizations, including the Coronado Island Film Festival and Coronado School of the Arts, use the Main Stage Theatre for their own events.
“Together, they raised enough to complete the upgrade,” Purvis said. “Helen saw the problem, brought the right people into the room, and made it happen. And she wrote one grant herself.”
Last June, the foundation granted $5,000 for the Art & Wine Festival to raise money for the Coronado Schools Foundation, sponsoring a student art auction that raised more than $18,500 for STEM programming in the Coronado Unified School District.
Shortly after arriving here 14 years ago, Kupka volunteered at San Diego’s Monarch School and Just in Time for Foster Youth. A Rotarian and a proud Coronado trash-cleanup volunteer, Kupka also has been involved with a variety of other community organizations. They include the film festival, Friends of Children United Society (FOCUS), Coronado Philharmonia Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony and more.
For most of these groups, Kupka contributes time and effort. She also wears what she calls her “philanthropy hat.”
“Helen’s often the first person to put her money in a project,” Purvis said. “Time, talent, money — she has invested all that and encourages other people to do the same.”
Kupka’s business acumen was developed over years of running tech companies with her husband, first in her home state of Ohio and then in Silicon Valley. In 2013, she started a four-year stint on the board of the Coronado Cays Homeowners Association. She oversaw $5 million worth of renovations and helped balance the budget.
“There's a huge difference in the way people are in San Diego and the way they are towards each other, especially in Coronado,” Kupka said. “Here, they're more interested in who you are than what you are. In Silicon Valley they’re interested in what you’ve done and who you know. Here, it's: ‘Who are you’?”
Kupka’s love of the arts has benefited Coronado in several ways. In addition to her support of the island’s film festival and the Philharmonia, she has hosted private jazz concerts at her home. As a longtime donor to the San Diego Symphony, she’s been instrumental in bringing some of its musicians to perform in Coronado. The most recent concert was on March 9 at the Performing Arts Center.
When asked if she ever finds time to relax, Kupka answered quickly.
“I love my fun and relaxation!” she said. “I love to cycle the Strand and around the island. I love working out and playing the piano. I go paddleboarding — all the things everybody loves to do here. Sig and I have a sailboat. Sailing our catamaran is our current passion.”
Purvis believes that Kupka’s husband is her secret weapon in keeping such a fast pace.
“Sig helps keep Helen balanced and encourages her in this work,” Purvis said. “When Helen and I were on the (Coronado Cultural Arts) commission together, she’d say: `What have we got ourselves into?’ And then she’d smile and say: `Let’s keep going’!”
Beth Wood is a freelance writer.
Awesome article Beth! I am exhausted, just reading about all the great deeds Helen is involved in! So fortunate to have her in out community🌻🌻🌻🌞