California Community Foundation Awards More Than $4 Million To Create Greater Equity, Opportunity And Prosperity Across L.A. County

Grants support arts, education, health care, housing and economic development, community building, citizenship, immigrant integration and scholarships

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California Community Foundation

Dec 16, 2014, 12:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – California Community Foundation (CCF) has awarded $4,080,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations throughout Los Angeles County to address the wide-ranging needs of our region. CCF supports programs and initiatives through discretionary funds entrusted to the foundation by generations of donors.

With this latest round of grants—the fourth and final grant docket of 2014—CCF has disbursed 193 grants totaling more than $20 million in discretionary funding this calendar year.

This quarter, 29 grants were announced that impact CCF's diverse program areas including:

Arts, which advances local, relevant and affordable arts services county-wide.
Education, which is aimed at increasing school readiness and provides teachers with quality professional development programs.
Health care, which is focused on improving access to quality, coordinated and sustainable health care.
Housing and economic development, which assists grassroots organizing groups, advocacy groups and nonprofit developers to respond to opportunities and challenges facing Los Angeles' families and individuals in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, and supports job expansion and preservation, micro-lending efforts and financial literacy training.

Grants were also awarded in support of key CCF initiatives:

El Monte Community Building Initiative, which aims to ensure that children and youth in El Monte grow up healthier and better prepared for school, college and a career.
Los Angeles Citizenship Initiative, which works to increase naturalization rates among eligible immigrants in the United States and to increase the long-term sustainability of charitable and community-based organizations that support the naturalization process.
Immigrant Integration Initiative, which focuses on increasing the civic participation of immigrants as a way to enhance the region's policies toward immigrants and foster a vibrant and engaged community.
Preparing Achievers for Tomorrow (PAT), which provides music, sports and recreational opportunities to low-income children in South Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Scholars Investment Fund, which offers scholarships and effective college preparation and completion services to increase the number of low-income students that graduate with post-secondary degrees.

"I am proud of the tangible impact our donor and grantee partners are having in our region every day as they work tirelessly to make a positive difference. We are pleased to collaborate with them to improve the lives of Los Angeles County's most vulnerable residents," said California Community Foundation President and CEO Antonia Hernández.

CCF unites the power of philanthropy with innovative strategies to create greater equity, opportunity and prosperity in Los Angeles County. We have served as a public, charitable organization since 1915, empowering donors to pursue their own personal passions and to collaborate with us in transforming Los Angeles. CCF stewards nearly $1.4 billion in total assets and manages more than 1,600 charitable foundations, funds and legacies. For more information, visit calfund.org, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/calfund and follow us on Twitter @Calfund.

CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GRANTS BY FUNDING AREA

December 2014

PROGRAMS	TOTAL NUMBER OF GRANTS	TOTAL AMOUNT
Arts
Craft in America CRE Outreach Diavolo Dance Theater	3	$200,000
Education
Los Angeles Universal Preschool	1			$200,000
Health Care
American Indian Changing Spirits Antelope Valley Hospital Capital Link City of Hope Good Samaritan Olive View Shields for Families UCLA Department of Neurology UCLA Stroke Center USC Department of Biomedical Engineering	10	$2,450,000
Housing & Economic Development
Corporation for Supportive Housing	1		$125,000
INITIATIVES	TOTAL NUMBER OF GRANTS	TOTAL AMOUNT
El Monte Community Building Initiative
Rio Hondo College	1			$150,000
Los Angeles Citizenship Initiative
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) NALEO Educational Fund	3			$200,000
Immigrant Integration Initiative
ACCE Institute Communities for a Better Environment Khmer Girls in Action Southeast Asian Community Alliance	4	$340,000
Preparing Achievers for Tomorrow (PAT)
Culinary Arts Kids Eat (C.A.K.E.)	1	$40,000
Scholarships / Los Angeles Scholars Investment Fund
California State University, Los Angeles / CAL-SOAP LA College Match MOSTE One Voice Youth Speak Collective	5	$375,000
TOTAL	29	$4,080,000