Three West Marin groups—West Marin Community Services, West Marin Senior Services and the San Geronimo Valley Community Center—were among 15 recipients of a $5 million, two-year grant from the Marin Community Foundation to shore up safety-net social services. “It’s a network [of groups] that goes largely unheralded,” said Tom Peters, the foundation’s president and C.E.O. “But you sure would know it if they weren’t able to provide these basic services.” The grants represent slight increases from past awards and, significantly, are not tied to specific uses—a welcomed departure from previous constraints. “They’ve really streamlined the way they do the grants in this particular area,” said Dave Cort, the executive director of the community center. “It’s a new signal from M.C.F. in working with organizations in a very healthy, collaborative way.” Drawn from a substantial donation by the late Marin residents Leonard and Beryl Buck, who left most of their remaining assets in their will to help start the foundation in 1986, the grant supports basic needs provided by the local social-service groups such as food pantries, senior lunches and assistance, utility and rent bills, in-home services, client transportation and referral. But others have lost out in recent years. Among them, the Dance Palace Community Center had received regular funding for its programs and services, but was left off on the list of recipients following a plummet in foundation contributions from a $50,000 historical average down to an average $20,000 in 2013. Also off the list this year was the Coastal Health Alliance, which did recently receive foundation funds to secure its new dental van. “We have sharpened and deepened our focus with certain of the agencies,” Mr. Peters explained. “It’s not any critique of the Dance Palace, but we have a closed system with regard to the amount we have available. It’s just not possible to maintain that funding at an ad infinitum level.”