See the beautiful colors we captured this year during New Jersey's fall season.

A healthy body and mind can do more, last longer, and heal faster. So, too, can a community with good civic health.

Civic health is about how residents in communities engage with one another to make life better in the places they share. Healthier places have stronger and more sustainable local economies. According to research organizations, such as the University of New Hampshire's Casey School of Public Policy, the National Conference on Citizenship and others, residents, who live there, tend to show better personal health and well-being. And most importantly, these places are more resilient, and they recover faster from traumas or disasters. Community foundations, like the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, strengthen civic health in the places they serve.

Let's consider civic health during National Community Foundation Week

Now is a critical time to think about civic health in our communities. Many forces are threatening them. Social media makes it possible for neighbors to live in different realities. People are more distrusting of each other, according to the Pew Research Center, and too many voices continue telling us to fear others who look, think, pray or act differently.

National Community Foundation Week, observed annually from Nov. 12 to Nov. 18, is a good time to think about the important roles these organizations play in making life better in our communities. According to the Council on Foundations, a community foundation is a grantmaking public charity dedicated to improving the lives of people in a defined local geographic. The NNJCF serves eight counties: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren.

You probably know community foundations distribute money from generous donors for grants and scholarships that support a wide range of causes and scholarships. We do a lot more than that.

The NNJCF brings people together to address critical social issues and connects people with valuable resources to make life better for their neighbors. The NNJCF also pools and channels charitable donations to achieve greater impact.

Since 1998, thanks to generous donors and partners, NNJCF has distributed more than $1 million in grants and scholarships in North Jersey -- including more than $500,000 to help nonprofit organizations support their communities during COVID-19. We have brought together more than 800 people from dozens of communities to reduce flooding, cut down on childhood obesity, protected local environments, revitalized downtown Hackensack, and made places more fun and beautiful for all their residents.

Here's how the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation drives impact

Here are ther examples of the work NNJCF is doing to improve civic health in North Jersey:

* North Jersey National Heritage Area. We are leading an alliance among leaders in six counties to protect North Jersey's many cultural, historic and environmental assets; to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity to support local businesses and nonprofits; and to create more job and business opportunities through cultural heritage tourism. The National Heritage Area initiative will also promote greater pride among residents in their communities, as well as more collaboration among community and cultural leaders.

* Hackensack River Nation. We are working with dozens of leaders from communities in Hudson and Bergen counties to help protect the Hackensack River Watershed ecosystem and connect more people emotionally to the river.

* ArtsBergen. Through this initiative, we have produced more than two dozen community-guided public art projects in several Bergen County towns, successfully advocated for federal funding $500,000 to be dedicated to Bergen County arts and arts organizations, and continue to manage a social network of more than 900 artists and others, who support the arts in Bergen County.

* Hackensack Environmental Justice Alliance. We created and continue to support this locally-led group, which is helping residents in the city address widespread flooding and make the city greener, cleaner and more beautiful. More than 200 residents have come together on projects, such as a rain garden, a green infrastructure plan, environmental art, and more.

* Donor advised funds. We manage funds created by generous individuals to support a wide variety of causes -- support for cancer patients, food insecurity, Armenian communities -- and scholarships for North Jersey students.

Several community foundations exist in North Jersey. All of us enhance the civic health in our communities in different ways.

One thing we all have in common is a dependance on support from communities to continue our work. Unlike traditional foundations, such as Ford, Rockefeller, or Dodge, community foundations pool money from many different donors, and then use a portion to give grants or scholarships, or do other things that benefit their communities. Although they have to pay their staff, rent and bills, no community foundation makes a "profit" from donations. Anything that is not spent goes into interest-generating accounts or safe investment portfolios to generate even more money to support causes and people.

During National Community Foundation week, join us and help improve civic health in communities like yours by donating, getting involved, or volunteering. I promise it will help you feel better.

For further information about the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, contact me at [email protected] or 201-568-5608, x2. For more information about the NNJCF, visit its website, www.nnjcf.org. For more information about Community Foundation Week, visit cof.org/cfweek and follow #CommunityFNDWeek on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

Leonardo Vazquez is executive director of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Hackensack, works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups to improve community life.