Canopy Village Foundation names Kristina Kenny as new director

Canopy Village Foundation turned to Kristina Kenny to help keep North Idaho's only community-funded residential and respite home for children and youth in crisis on steady financial ground. The new director, announced June 11, was brought in to lead fundraising, donor engagement, marketing and community partnerships at a time when the organization is trying to expand services and protect programs families in Kootenai County rely on.

Kenny arrives with a long development track record. Across her career, she has secured more than $3.5 million in grant funding, raised more than $3 million through capital campaigns and generated more than $1 million through fundraising events. Canopy Village said her background also spans nonprofit development, education, consulting and business ownership, a mix that positions her to work across the public-facing and financial sides of the foundation's work.

The stakes are unusually high for a local charity of this size. Canopy Village says its 15-acre campus takes significant resources to operate, and the foundation pays the bill to keep the doors open. In 2024, the foundation donated more than $900,000 to support operations, underscoring how dependent the agency is on private giving as it serves children and families needing respite care, emergency shelter, family support and foster care youth residential therapy.

The leadership change also comes after a difficult stretch. At the end of 2024, Canopy Village closed one of its two homes after losing an Idaho Department of Health and Welfare contract and laid off about 15% of its workforce. In April 2026, the organization announced a new effort to expand services for at-risk and justice-involved youth in Region 1 of Idaho, a push that will require stable funding and a stronger development operation.

Canopy Village and Canopy Village Foundation were founded more than 30 years ago to keep children safe. The organization, formerly known as Children’s Village before its name change in July 2024, says it is the only community-funded provider in North Idaho offering crisis respite and emergency shelter services. Kenny's role now sits at the center of that mission: keeping donations flowing, deepening community ties and helping the foundation support the next phase of service in Coeur d'Alene and across Kootenai County.