Grant Abstracts 2010   A Noise Within Glendale, CA $250,000 2010 A Noise Within (ANW) has entered into the final phase of a $13.3 million dollar capital campaign, Building a Home for the Classics, to build a new theater in Pasadena, California. With seating doubling to 300 seats at the new 33,000 square-foot facility, ANW will soon serve over 50,000 constituents per year, including 20,000 students in education programs. The move to a new, permanent home will provide ANW expanded artistic possibilities, a greater scope of educational opportunities and the capacity to meet demand and reach its full potential.   Bet Tzedek Legal Services Los Angeles, CA $200,000 2010 The transition of developmentally disabled individuals from minors to adults is accompanied by major changes in legal status and the ability of their family caregiver(s) to make decisions on their behalf. Bet Tzedek Legal Service’s Mobile Family Conservatorship Clinic provides legal assistance that enables low income families with developmentally disabled children to make the transition in a healthy and supportive way. The Clinic is designed to help the families of the most severely disabled youth obtain limited conservatorships by providing them with legal representation and information on a range of critical issues. In addition, the staff conducts in depth assessments of the families’ social service needs, and connects them with appropriate resources. Support from the Keck Foundation is enabling Bet Tzedek to expand the successful pilot program, bringing it to approximately 200 families in two special education schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District over the next two years.   City Year Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA $200,000 2010 With Keck Foundation support, City Year Los Angeles (CYLA) is expanding its “Whole School, Whole Child” program model into Gompers Middle School in Watts. Young leaders, called corps members, participate in a year of full-time service as tutors, mentors and role models to help students stay in school and on track. The program addresses three early warning indicators that have been identified to lead to high school dropout: poor attendance, negative behavior and course failure in math and English. Corps members currently work in 14 Los Angeles Unified School District elementary and middle schools providing targeted intervention to the students who are deemed “off-track” and most at risk of dropping out because they exhibit a combination of the early warning indicators. In each of the next two years, CYLA will deploy a team of 17 corps members to Gompers to provide in-classroom academic assistance to the 324 sixth graders most at risk, organize after-school programs for 136 youth, and run events and initiatives to engage the entire student body and enhance the school climate.   COPE Health Solutions Los Angeles, CA $180,000 2010 With Keck funding, COPE Health Solutions is providing diagnostic testing to 580 uninsured and low-income patients suffering from cardiac disease via a mobile echocardiogram service and training primary care physician “champions” to identify warning signs, make appropriate referrals to specialists at County/USC Medical Center, and manage follow-up care. Patients are served by community clinics in Central and West Los Angeles that are members of the Camino de Salud (Healthy Road) Network, a public-private partnership managed by COPE Health Solutions. This one-year project is part of a larger County effort to better integrate primary and specialty care for uninsured patients in preparation for health care reform. COPE Health Solutions is a non-profit organization dedicated to assuring accessible, culturally sensitive health care services to underserved populations.   Corporation for Supportive Housing Los Angeles, CA $250,000 2010 The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), in partnership with the Child Welfare Initiative (CWI), will facilitate the creation of 50 units of permanent supportive housing (PSH) in Los Angeles for transition-age former foster youth at risk of homelessness. During the two year project, CSH and CWI will help build service provider capacity to create and operate youth PSH units; educate housing developers and match them with service providers; maximize use of PSH funds; and advocate for improved and increased youth PSH funding.   Harmony Project Los Angeles, CA $150,000 2010 Since April 2009, Harmony Project has been engaged in a cost-sharing partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell branch to provide after-school music education to students at three elementary schools and one middle school in the communities of East Hollywood/Koreatown. Harmony Project provides music instruction and social support while Beyond the Bell provides instruments and onsite staff. A three-year grant is supporting the orchestra conductor, music teachers and staff needed to expand the program from 120 to 250 students.   Inner-City Arts Los Angeles, CA $150,000 2010 Inner-City Arts’ Performing Arts Institute and Visual and Media Arts Institute offer low-income Los Angeles youth opportunities to study theater arts, dance choreography and production, stand-up comedy, animation, visual arts, digital photography, film production and graphic design/multi-media in a workshop environment after school and on Saturdays. Workshops are year-round, taught by professional artists, and afford students the chance to progress from rudimentary to advanced content by participating in multiple sessions from year-to-year. For students desiring to pursue advanced education and potentially work in an art-related field, mentoring, portfolio development, and partnerships with arts organizations and colleges enable Inner-City Arts to help students attain their goals. During the three-year project, a minimum of 1,365 students will enroll in workshops.   KIPP LA Schools Los Angeles, CA $250,000 2010 KIPP LA Schools is a non-profit charter school management organization that operates KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools in underserved communities in Los Angeles. It is in the process of expanding from five to fourteen schools by 2016. This project will support renovation of a former retail site in East Los Angeles to provide a long-term facility for KIPP Raíces Academy elementary school, the first new school in KIPP’s expansion effort in Los Angeles. Since opening in summer 2008, KIPP Raíces achieved strong results, despite the challenge of operating in tight quarters and on a split campus. By providing KIPP Raíces a suitable long-term home, the school will be able to grow from 300 students in grades K-2 to 500 students in grades K-4 by 2012.   Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA $250,000 2010 The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) is a frontline law firm for the poor in Los Angeles County, and has been providing civil legal services for over 80 years. LAFLA has now embarked on a “Building Justice” capital campaign to invest in upgrading its legal center facilities in several underserved communities. This project supports the renovation of a newly acquired building in South Los Angeles. The new facility maintains LAFLA’s long-standing presence in South Los Angeles and will allow for a 20% increase in the number of cases adjudicated and residents served.   Los Angeles Regional Foodbank Los Angeles, CA $100,000 2010 The participation rate by Californians and residents of Los Angeles County in the federal Food Stamp Program (now called the CalFresh Program in California) is among the lowest in the nation. County caseworkers are overwhelmed and potential applicants are often uniformed and intimidated, resulting in high benefit denial rates. With Keck Foundation funding, the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank is continuing its Food Stamp Outreach Program to improve the health of low-income, food-insecure individuals and families in Los Angeles County by increasing their access to nutritious food. Activities will include determining eligibility, completing food stamp applications, following up with County staff on clients’ behalf to ensure approval, and working with the County Department of Public Social Services and the state to reduce barriers for qualified applicants to access benefits. During the two-year project, 985 households will receive food stamps benefitting almost 2,200 children and adults and generating over $7 million in economic activity for the region.   MLA Partner Schools Los Angeles, CA $245,000 2010 MLA Partner Schools (MLA) currently operates two Los Angeles Unified School District high schools, West Adams Preparatory and Manual Arts, with a combined student population of more than 6,000 students. Under its contract with LAUSD, MLA has full authority for managing these schools as neighborhood public schools. During the two-year project, MLA will implement a new performance evaluation system that centers on professional development, data-driven instruction and accountability for teachers and school leaders to meet school-wide goals and improve academic performance. Grant funding will support two new performance analysts for teacher evaluation, data and planning, as well as associated technology infrastructure.   St. Anne's Maternity Home Los Angeles, CA $150,000 2010 This two-year project will support St Anne's Transitional Housing Program, which provides subsidized housing and an array of supportive services to help struggling 18- to 24-year-old mothers aging out of the foster care system gather the emotional and practical resources they need to create safe, self-sufficient lives. Disconnected youth aging out of the foster care system are at particular risk for chronic homelessness, unemployment, community and family violence, failure to complete high school, and other prospect-limiting threats. Offering multiple supports that former foster care youth can draw on to build stable, productive futures are considered to be the most effective route to better outcomes for such individuals. Toward this end, the Transitional Housing Program offers safe housing, educational aid, help to prepare for and secure jobs, mental health treatment, on-site infant, toddler and preschool care, life skills training and family literacy assistance.   Students Run LA Tarzana, CA $100,000 2010 Students Run LA’s (SRLA) “Training for the Marathon…Training for Life” is a 26-week physical fitness and mentoring program for low-income teenagers in Los Angeles that teaches them to set and achieve goals by preparing them to complete the LA Marathon. While running is the core activity of the program, participating students learn discipline, perseverance and hard work. SRLA students enjoy school, stay in school and graduate at a higher rate than their peers. Grant funding is supporting 218 students during the first year of the project and 217 students during the second year. These students attend 16 schools at which at least 90% of the students qualify for the free/reduced lunch program.   TreePeople Beverly Hills, CA $150,000 2010 TreePeople’s Urban Forestry Regional Initiative is a program of targeted community engagement to inspire and empower local residents to take charge of their environment through urban forestry. “Citizen Foresters" are recruited, trained and supported to lead multiple planting or tree care events in their neighborhoods. With Keck Foundation support, the program is training 125 volunteer leaders and more than 2,500 volunteers to conduct over 100 planting and care events during the two-year project. Not only will Los Angeles’ urban neighborhoods become more livable, but community leaders emerge in the process, and in turn drive neighborhood improvements. Since 2007, TreePeople has targeted three areas of high environmental need: the Northeast San Fernando Valley, select areas of South Los Angeles and the Harbor/Gateway Region.   Union Station Homeless Services Pasadena, CA $150,000 2010 Union Station Homeless Services in the San Gabriel Valley is a comprehensive social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income people to rebuild their lives. Clients are offered the housing, employment and life skills they need to become productive, stable and self sufficient. Approximately 2,000 people annually receive assistance through one of the following Union Station programs: Passageways, a one-stop intake center that serves as the entry-point to Pasadena’s homeless services network; Adult Center, a 56-bed adult shelter for men and women, and the site for the Community Meals and Shower Programs; Family Center, a 50-bed shelter for homeless families; Euclid Villa, a 14-unit transitional housing program for families; Sources, a career development and job search assistance program; and Centennial Place, a 144-unit single room occupancy building providing permanent supportive housing for low-income adults. A two-year grant is supporting the Family Center, a home-like environment that offers shelter, meals and supportive services to help families permanently escape homelessness. Last year, 90% of families exiting the Family Center moved to stable housing, including rental units, long-term transitional housing and permanent supportive housing.   Variety Boys & Girls Club Los Angeles, CA $250,000 2010 The Variety Boys & Girls Club has launched a $10.1 million capital campaign to replace its 85 year-old facility with a new, 28,500 square-foot building. The new facility will insure that the Club can deliver high-quality academic, recreational and social programs to the youth of Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, East Los Angeles and Downtown Los Angeles far into the future. The new facility will allow Club membership to increase from 1,577 to 2,175 and overall daily participation to increase from 255 to 400 youth. The new facility will include dedicated, yet flexible space to provide new programs for teens and families and also accommodate programs and events hosted by other community organizations. This new facility will be built at the Club’s current location in Boyle Heights and will open in early 2012.   YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA $250,000 2010 The YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles will construct the new Anderson-Munger Wilshire Family YMCA in Koreatown. The Silver LEED-rated building will be a two-story, 30,000 square foot facility with a 20,000 square-foot roof top recreation area. The YMCA will offer programs that will engage area youth in progressive development opportunities, support families and individuals in pursuit of wellness and community, provide recreation and activity for people of all ages, and offer the tools necessary for its neighbors to build their best lives. The branch will partner with the adjoining Charles H. Kim Elementary School to develop joint programming and share resources. Last year, the YMCA served more than 250,000 people across the Los Angeles metropolitan region, over half of them youth. The new facility is expected to be completed by August 2013 and serve upwards of 10,000 men, women and children annually.