More than $33 Million Awarded to Los Angeles Nonprofits by Local Foundation in 2005

Los Angeles — The California Community Foundation announced today that it has awarded more than $33 million to nonprofits serving Los Angeles County during the 2005 calendar year. The top three areas of grantmaking by percentage are: health care (29.3 percent), education (25.9 percent) and arts and culture (25.8 percent).

The community foundation makes grants to organizations throughout the county, including nonprofit agencies in Northridge, Lancaster, Arleta, Santa Monica, South Los Angeles, Pacoima, Long Beach, Cerritos, Van Nuys and more.

“The staff and board of the community foundation are committed to making positive change in Los Angeles County,” said Antonia Hernández, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. “We are both excited and proud that the $33 million we and our donors invested in the Los Angeles community is being used to build affordable housing, teach kids to read, treat chronic asthma and address many other critical social issues.”

Grants were made through the community foundation’s discretionary grantmaking program, special initiatives and many of the more than 500 active donor advised funds managed by the foundation.

Donor advised funds are established by individuals, families and corporations, and donors can make grants to any qualified nonprofit agency through this type of fund. They are considered to be an excellent alternative to a private foundation, since there are no start up fees, administrative hassles or minimum payout requirements.

Field of interest and unrestricted funds are used by the foundation’s discretionary grantmaking program. Field of interest funds are created by donors who wish to support a particular issue area — children’s services or animal welfare, for example — but want the foundation to take care of deciding which specific organizations to support.

Since October, the foundation has awarded more than $2.4 million through its discretionary grantmaking program in the areas of neighborhood revitalization, health care, early education, economic development and more. The grants range from $26,000 to $357,600.

A $106,000 health care grant awarded to Helen Keller International’s ChildSight® program provides vision screenings to 15,000 low-income children throughout Los Angeles. Additionally, the grant will fund up to 1,200 pairs of prescription glasses for those children who need them.

Established in 1915, the California Community Foundation is one of the largest and most active philanthropic organizations in Southern California, with assets of more than $760 million. In partnership with its donors, the foundation supports nonprofit organizations and public institutions with funds for health and human services, affordable housing, early childhood education, community arts and culture and other areas of need.

Below is a list of recent grantees:

Community Economic Development

Beyond Shelter, Los Angeles ($150,000)
With centers located in Downtown Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, Pacoima and Long Beach, Beyond Shelter annually serves more than 2,000 homeless families. In addition to relocating homeless families into permanent housing, Beyond Shelter provides parent education and job development programs. A $150,000 grant supports Beyond Shelter’s Employment Services Program in all of its locations. The program provides intensive employment services and case management to homeless single mothers.

Los Angeles Urban League, Los Angeles ($100,000)
Established in 1921, the mission of the Los Angeles Urban League is to enable African-Americans and other minorities to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights through advocacy activities and the provision of programs and services in a uniquely diversified city and region. It serves more than 100,000 individuals each year through a range of activities, including vocational training and employment programs, financial literacy education, Head Start preschool education, family literacy support, and tutoring and mentoring for youth. A $100,000 grant supports the increase of employment and early childhood education services. After completion, the services will be available to residents in the Crenshaw, South Los Angeles and Pomona communities.

Early Education

Central American Resource Center, Los Angeles ($50,000)
The Central American Resource Center was originally established in the early 1980s to help Central American refugees secure political asylum and social services; it has since grown into a full-service community center serving the Pico-Union community. The center was granted $50,000 to support a parent education and engagement program that will educate and organize a total of 120 parents from the Pico-Union area to exert an informed voice on local education issues.

Child and Family Guidance Center, Northridge ($26,000)
The Child and Family Guidance Center was founded in 1962 to provide mental health counseling to children and their families in northern Los Angeles County. Services include individual and group therapy, psychiatric evaluations, child abuse treatment and prevention, vocational case management, school-based counseling, health education and more. The center serves more than 12,000 families annually from its offices in Northridge, North Hills, Van Nuys, Palmdale and Lancaster, and on site at numerous public school campuses. A $25,000 grant supports the In-Home Instruction Program to improve school readiness by providing in-home bilingual educational activities and parenting classes for low-income Latino preschool children and their families in Pacoima.

College Bound — Dollars for Achievers, Cerritos ($50,000)
Founded in 1990, College Bound not only serves students from both public and private schools in Los Angeles area school districts, but also works with families from Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. With a curriculum linked to the University of California and California State University systems, College Bound provides academic enrichment activities and a parent involvement program to improve literacy, math and test-taking skills. A $50,000 grant supports a Saturday math and science tutoring program to help prepare 145 minority students for high school and college.

Parent Institute for Quality Education, Los Angeles ($40,000)
The Parent Institute for Quality Education was established in 1990 to inform and motivate low-income parents to navigate the school system, seek opportunities to support their children’s’ learning and promote parent-teacher collaboration in order to reduce the dropout rate and enable children to achieve their greatest educational potential. More than 125,000 parents from 500 K–12 schools across 14 school districts in Los Angeles, San Fernando and El Monte have completed the free, comprehensive training course offered in 14 languages and delivered by professional facilitators. A $40,000 grant supports the program for two years, in which time it is expected to serve 86 schools and 8,000 parents throughout the Los Angeles Unified, Compton, Lynwood, Long Beach and Glendale school districts.

Regents of the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles ($95,000)
The UCLA School Management Program was established in 1992 by UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and The Anderson School of Management to provide leadership training to school teams to improve school-wide academic achievement. Its mission is to support the transformation of public schools into organizations where all students achieve. A $95,000 grant provides support for a principal/teacher training program to improve student achievement and increase parent involvement at three Baldwin Park elementary schools.

Health and Medicine

Antelope Valley Health Care District, Lancaster ($357,600)
Antelope Valley Health Care District operates the Antelope Valley Hospital, which is located in Lancaster. Since 1955, the nonprofit hospital has provided acute and sub-acute health care services to the Antelope Valley community. A three-year, $357,600 grant supports the expansion of the health education component of Healthy Homes, a program intended to improve birth outcomes among women in the Antelope Valley.

Arroyo Vista Family Health Center, Los Angeles ($250,000)
Arroyo Vista Family Health Center is a primary health care provider in the northeast Los Angeles area with three clinic locations and two mobile clinics covering the communities of Highland Park, Montecito Heights, Monterey Hills, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Cypress Park, Mt. Washington, north Boyle Heights, Chinatown and City Terrace. Arroyo Vista’s mission is to respond to the current and future health needs of uninsured and underinsured residents by providing access to a range of high quality, affordable health services. A $250,000 grant supports the relocation and renovation of a Lincoln Heights clinic.

El Proyecto Del Barrio, Arleta ($200,000)
For more than 30 years, El Proyecto del Barrio has provided bilingual, bicultural (English/Spanish) community services and advocacy in the areas of workforce development, business services, youth opportunities, primary health care, drug/alcohol prevention and treatment and health education to low-income youth and adults in the San Fernando Valley. El Proyecto was awarded a $200,000 grant to support a diabetes treatment and management program at the recently reopened Azusa Health Center.

Helen Keller International, Los Angeles ($106,000)
Founded in 1915, Helen Keller International (HKI) is among the oldest international nonprofit organizations devoted to fighting and treating preventable blindness and malnutrition. With locations in 26 countries, HKI builds local capacity by providing scientific and technical assistance and data to governments and organizations around the world. The organization received a $106,000 grant to provide vision screenings to 15,000 students and to provide up to 1,200 free prescription eyeglasses to low-income children throughout Los Angeles County.

JWCH Institute, Los Angeles ($143,853)
The JWCH Institute’s mission is to improve the health status and well being of underserved populations in Los Angeles County. The organization not only provides family planning services at county clinics in Central, South and East Los Angeles, it also sponsors programs to address HIV, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, family planning, primary medical care, teen pregnancy prevention and cancer prevention. A $143,853 grant supports new health services at the recently reopened Bell Gardens Health Center.

Neighborhood Revitalization

Coro Southern California, Los Angeles ($100,000)
Founded as a national organization in 1946, Coro opened its Southern California office in Los Angeles in 1957 with a mission of strengthening the system of democratic self-governance by encouraging civic education and participation. Using an experiential learning methodology, Coro’s intensive nine-month graduate-level Fellows program is designed to enhance leadership skills, expand knowledge of how communities work and place participants in situations that motivate lifelong civic participation. Coro was granted $100,000 to support the Community Leadership Initiative, which serves residents and stakeholders from the Vermont-Slauson area.

Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness, Los Angeles ($100,000)
The Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness was founded in 1985 to address issues of hunger and homelessness through public education, technical assistance, policy analysis and community action. The coalition is perhaps best known for its publication of The People’s Guide to Welfare, Health and Other Services, which is distributed in eight languages with a circulation of more than 400,000. A $100,000 capacity building grant supports a housing policy advocate for the Save Section 8 Coalition of Los Angeles County.

NALEO Educational Fund, Los Angeles ($100,000)
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund empowers Latinos to participate fully in the American political process, from citizenship to public service. Established in 1981, the NALEO Educational Fund carries out this mission by developing and implementing programs that promote the integration of Latino immigrants into American society, developing future leaders among Latino youth, providing assistance and training to the nation’s elected and appointed Latino officials and by conducting research on issues important to the Latino population. A $100,000 grant provides support for a Neighborhood Councils Initiative, a program designed to increase the resident engagement and leadership of Neighborhood Councils in Pico-Union, Westlake, Pacoima and Panorama City.

Upward Bound House, Santa Monica ($50,000)
Established in 1990, Upward Bound House (UBH) provides transitional housing and supportive services to homeless families with children and affordable housing for low-income senior citizens. Located in Santa Monica, UBH’s 22-unit Family Place complex has housed 162 families over the past six years, 96 percent of which have successfully moved to permanent housing. The Senior Villa Complex, which opened in May 2000, provides 70 units of affordable housing with links to social services. A $50,000 grant supports staff salaries to continue ongoing transitional housing assistance and support services for homeless families at the Family Place complex.

Other

Child Development Consortium of Los Angeles, Los Angeles ($50,000)
The Child Development Consortium of Los Angeles was created by early childhood educators and established as a nonprofit corporation in 1978. The organization provides direct child care and development services, consulting services to corporations and other child development programs, and parent education workshops. A $50,000 grant provides capital support to develop the Hart Village Early Education Center, a child care facility with 96 new preschool slots for children ages three to five that is part of an affordable housing complex in Canoga Park.

Children’s Museum of Los Angeles, Los Angeles ($250,000)
The Children’s Museum of Los Angeles operated out of its Main Street home until August 2000 when the museum acquired two pieces of property that would allow it to expand and increase its accessibility to residents from the outskirts of the county. When it reopens, the main campus will be located in Little Tokyo, adjacent to the Japanese American National Museum, while the second campus will be at the Hansen Dam recreational area, allowing not only internal exhibits but environmental elements. The museum was granted $250,000 in support of a two-year capital campaign for facility construction and fabrication of exhibits for the second campus.

Jovenes, Inc., Los Angeles, ($80,000)
Established in 1991, Jovenes is an innovative and comprehensive community-based service center committed to preventing the exploitation of at-risk youth living on the streets of Los Angeles, particularly in the communities of Pico-Union/Westlake, Echo Park, South Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, Long Beach and Hollywood. An $80,000 grant to Jovenes supports a capacity building effort to expand the level of services for youth who are homeless immigrants and for those currently and formerly in foster care.

Music Center, Los Angeles ($90,000)
As one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States, the Music Center of Los Angeles is home to four producing companies: the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Los Angeles Opera and the Center Theatre Group. Founded in 1963, the Music Center also provides opportunities for lifelong learning in the arts for all ages through the Music Center Education Division. A $90,000 grant supports the Music Center’s Spotlight Awards Program, which provides scholarships as well as educational experiences to Southern California high school performing and visual artists.