By Cristina Medina Dirksen Communications Coordinator, Community Foundation for Monterey County Maria Salazar Segovia wears bright flowers in her hair. The vibrant embroidery of her dress is as lively as her spirit. This is Maria Segovia, who is at ease with her new situation in life and that of her son, Alberto, who after more than 30 years having his mother as his primary caregiver has moved out from their home. “I admit, I wasn’t ready to see him go, but we found the perfect place for him. He now lives happily with his Gateway family,” she said of his new home for adults with disabilities at Gateway Center of Monterey County, Inc. “He readily made the adjustment, it’s taken me longer,” she said with a laugh.

Planning for Her Son

Alberto, 33, has special needs. Maria has devoted her life to him. They moved to Monterey in 2016 and soon Alberto found friends and a day program at the Pacific-Grove based Gateway Center. At the same time Maria was trying to figure out how to plan her estate with her son’s care as a consideration. She learned about the Community Foundation for Monterey County (CFMC) though the Monterey County Gives! campaign. She wanted to learn more about the wide-range of estate planning options, so she called the CFMC and had a conversation with Christine Dawson, Vice President of Philanthropic Services.

A CGA: Income for Today – Gift for Tomorrow

“I had an annuity that I needed to do something with. I read about the CFMC’s charitable gift annuities in an article and found it to be exactly what I was looking for,” Segovia said. The answer for Maria was to establish a charitable gift annuity with Gateway Center as the beneficiary. With a CGA Maria receives an immediate tax benefit and guaranteed income for life, a portion of which is tax free. The remainder benefits the nonprofit(s) of the donor’s choice, in this case, Gateway Center. “I wanted to contribute to the organization that is taking care of my son and others like him,” she said.

I feel some peace of mind knowing that even if I’m not here, I will have left behind a small part of me for my son Alberto. I am confident he will be taken care of.” – Maria Salazar Segovia

A New Life

Maria and Alberto meet up at least twice a week to walk the recreation trail. They share what’s new in their lives. Maria has taken up tap dancing and Alberto loves to see birds at the end of the Monterey Wharf. They remain very close, but each is exploring a new life. “The establishment of the CGA moved much faster than I thought it would. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy and painless it was – a phone call, a meeting, a plan that worked for us,” Segovia said of working with the CFMC. “I’m really glad this organization is here.”

Create Your Legacy – Planned Giving Guide

For details on how you can create your legacy, visit www.cfmco.org/legacy, download, or call Christine Dawson at 831.375.9712 x126 to request a copy of our Guide to Planned Giving.   Guide to Planned Giving

Photos: Michael Troutman, DMT Imaging

Cristina Medina Dirksen is the Communications Coordinator at the Community Foundation for Monterey County, where she oversees social media, website support, blogs and content creation and development for CFMC publications. She can be reach at (831) 884-5710. https://www.cfmco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tyler-Segovia-026.jpg https://www.cfmco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tyler-Segovia-026.jpg|https://www.cfmco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tyler-Segovia-019.jpg|https://www.cfmco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Tyler-Segovia-cropped.jpg|https://www.cfmco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Segovia.400-thumb.jpg Donors|Fund Development|Philanthropy|Planned Giving