Those who have seen past California Musical Theatre productions of Beauty and the Beast were in for a treat this year: The “tale as old as time” is decidedly new and improved thanks to a recent influx of grant money from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.

Katie McCleary and 916 Ink co-founder Michael Spurgeon knew they wanted to start a creative nonprofit for children when they met at a writer’s conference in 2010. They believed Sacramento could support such a program because there was already a strong writing community here, nurtured by programs like the Sacramento Poetry Center, but there was a glaring, missing piece in Sacramento’s creative writing community — a youth program.

In order for spawning Chinook salmon to return to Deer Creek this autumn, they first had to swim against the stream from the San Joaquin River to the Mokelumne River, east of Rio Vista. Then, the determined fish had to make their way up to where the Mokelumne meets the Cosumnes River, and finally, migrate several miles more to get to the shady shores of Deer Creek.

Stanford Youth Solutions, a Sacramento-based nonprofit organization, helps to support foster parents, foster youth and the families behind them through their foster care program.

As the Capital Region rallies around renewed homelessness talks and discussions on the impact of rising rent, one nonprofit has already worked for the last 17 years at the intersection of homelessness and affordable housing.

The Dr. Ernest and Arthella Hunter Foundation was started by Dr. Darryl Hunter. Ernest Hunter had been a career Army dentist for several decades and his son followed him into the military medical field, becoming a colonel in the Air Force Reserve and a radiation oncologist at Kaiser Permanente in the Sacramento area.

Upon receiving her bachelor’s degree in 2014, Monica Sandoval became Future Sacramento’s first student to complete the program and graduate college.

For local families — like Michelle and her children — in crisis situations, the safe home and services provided by Yolo Crisis Nursery are nothing short of life-changing, and lifesaving.

The California Capital Women’s Business Center is a nonprofit organization that provides programs and services to small businesses throughout the state. In collaboration with the Women Veterans Alliance, the Women Veterans One-Stop Resource Center was created to specifically address the needs of women veterans, their spouses and families.

The Ride to Walk program has been in operation since 1985, and they have been improving their ranch since moving in 18 years ago. Use of the property is available to the public from dawn to dusk. To keep up with costs, the ranch also boards non-therapy horses, and the lake on site is also open for catch and release bass fishing for a $5, recommended donation.

The Sacramento Guitar Society Orchestra is one of several programs run by the Sacramento Guitar Society, a nonprofit that’s been around for more than 50 years. Among these programs, the Society also hosts concerts, offers scholarships for guitar camps and facilitates guitar donations for various music programs

As modern-day farmers find it increasingly difficult to deny the financial gains of selling their land for development, the Yolo Land Trust gives them a viable business option to conserve their property.

The beauty of the diversity of a foundation such as the Sutter Yuba Community Foundation is that there is an unlimited scope of possibilities for assistance, as opposed to a foundation that grants funds for a specific purpose only.

It was as close to a miracle as you can get. Just when all hope seemed lost for Wind Youth Services, the only homeless teen shelter in Sacramento, a financially-solvent fairy godmother swooped in to save the day.

“Balancing the stage” is a common theater term. It refers to the arranging of the actors and set in a strategic way to produce a desired effect. A director can create a feeling of order or of chaos with the choices they make. For the audience, balance is crucial — a stage that lacks balance will pull focus and distract from the story the company needs to tell.

Stand Up Placer has been serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence since 1978. Survivors and the children of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking can find refuge, emergency services and advocacy around the clock in our 55-bed safe house. Victims get to us either by calling our 24/7 crisis line, visiting one of our service centers in Roseville or Auburn, or from law enforcement referrals.

Next Move serves more than 10,000 people in the Sacramento area every year. They provide a safety net of services that range from arranging for bus passes to maintaining permanent housing for the disabled or mentally ill.

Like many local nonprofits, Cool Davis is challenged with limited funding opportunities, harnessing the talents and energy of diverse people and organizations to a common vision and purpose, and finding a positive and effective message to inspire and care for our community in the face of a rapidly worsening view of the future.

The Sacramento Region Community Foundation operates a little differently from your typical private foundation. According to SRCF Chief Giving Officer Priscilla Enriquez, community foundations enable would-be philanthropists in the Sacramento region to give back to their own community.

When money grows tight in a town like Sacramento, nonprofits must get creative to stay afloat. This is particularly true for the performing arts. But the region’s creative nonprofits have risen to the challenge in recent years, finding innovative means to engage the community and fill both seats and coffers.