Announcing the 2018 Community Seed Grantees

The UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity is pleased to announce our 2018 Community Seed Grants!

We are pleased to announce the 16 organizations that were selected for funding as one of our 2018 Community Seed Grantees. These outstanding projects were selected from a pool of over 80 high quality applications. Through the generous support of Doctora Monica Salinas, and with the Co-Sponsorship of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, we are honored to have the ability to fund a larger group of organizations this year compared to past years. Together, we look forward to supporting the critically important health equity work that will be conducted through each of these community seed grants in the coming year.

	Alcott Center for Mental Health Services Funding will expand the exising “Health Neighborhood” pilot project to identify mental health, healthcare, substance abuse services and quality of life needs in the Pico-Robertson community and provide education to increase awareness around those needs.  Providers track reciprocal referrals and meet on a monthly basis to discuss access. This is an existing project with strong community and partner support, but so far it has mostly been unfunded.
	Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center Funding will add SAT and STEM classes, college tours, and other enhancements to an existing college and career readiness program for more than 200 students in the Gramercy Park and Athens/Westmont communities. Wooten’s mission is to provide a safe, healthy environment committed to academic excellence and to help students move beyond the trauma they experience regularly in an area with one of the highest rates of violence in Los Angeles County.
	Asian American Drug Abuse Program Funding will expand a program which provides access to job training, in partnership with the West Adams WorkSource Center, for entry-level positions in the medical field to low-income residents. Over 75% of the 25 adults trained through this program last year were able to secure stable employment.
	California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance Funding will provide training for 100 new immigrant youth leaders on policies affecting healthcare access for immigrant communities, including those who are undocumented. Once trained, the youth leaders will engage in healthcare advocacy and work to help broaden their understanding of the impact of immigration enforcement policy on health.
	Children’s Institute, Inc. Funding will enable the Children’s Institute to purchase and install play equipment at four Early Head Start and Head Start sites in South Los Angeles which currently lack up-to-date equipment. At least 40 children are served at these four Head Start locations, and the addition of play structures such as the Woodland Climber and Squirrel Rider will benefit many more children in the years to come.
	Community Coalition Funding will support a new effort to conduct 6 monthly Leadership Academies focused on skills development (e.g. public speaking, delegation visits, power analysis) to build a cohort made up of 60 community leaders called the People First Campaign. The goal of this campaign is to advocate, educate, and shape strategic health initiatives for South LA residents.
	Community Health Councils (CHC) Funding will support a pilot program that engages a multi-sectoral stakeholder workgroup of community members in work to establish a “Healthy Kids Zone” around Fremont High School in South Los Angeles. The aim is to establish a ½ mile buffer zone around the school in order to address neighborhood-level environmental issues that negatively impact the health of students and their families.
	Esperanza Community Housing Corporation Funding will support a pilot project to provide a Promotor de Salud at the Mercado La Paloma for 15 hours each week for 18 weeks. The Promotor will conduct outreach and education to provide information about nutrition, obesity prevention, and community resources such as DPSS programs and the Los Angeles Public Library’s Health Matters Program. The Mercado is a landmark community facility and a destination for more than 5,000 mostly Spanish-speaking visitors each week.
	Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) Funding will support development and creation of new culturally and linguistically appropriate education and outreach materials for individuals who receive a blood cancer diagnosis, and their family members. All new communication tools will be created with visual, easy to understand images and text that explain the range of free LLS services available, as well as where they are located and how to access them. Materials will be translated into Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese and two other languages.
	People for Parks Funding will expand efforts to increase access to public green space/parks in under-resourced areas of Pico Union, Koreatown, and South LA through the “Community School Parks” program. Through a shared use agreement with Los Angeles Unified School District, four school yards are opened to the public on Saturdays. Seed grant funds will support enrichment programming for community residents of all ages at these sites.
	Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Centers-Torrance and San Pedro Funding will enable Providence Little Company of Mary to coordinate and launch a weekly farmer’s market at the Wilmington Wellness and Activity Center using produce harvested from a new community garden. The area around this site is recognized as a food desert, where at least 33% of residents live more than one mile from a supermarket and 13% are CalFresh recipients. The market will accept EBT.
	Providence Saint John’s Health Center Funding will provide training for 20 residents from the Mar Vista Gardens Public Housing complex to serve as health promoters. Services provided by promoters will include: linking other residents to local health services, connecting residents to health benefits, offering health education, and conducting regular health and cancer screenings.
	South Asian Network (SAN) Funding will enable SAN to recruit and train local community members from South Asian communities to provide basic health education and healthcare service navigation, including cancer-related services, in three major languages: Bangla, Hindi/Urdu, and Punjabi. Los Angeles has the fourth largest South Asian population in the US, however, currently no such program exists in the Los Angeles area for this community.
	Triage Cancer Funding will support development of a brief, animated video to aid cancer survivors in selecting an appropriate health insurance plan. The video will be designed to address the unique needs of those who may be confused, paying too much, or completely uninsured and unable to access health care. English and Spanish language versions of the video will be created and disseminated to cancer centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and other safety net settings, as well as community locations where individuals coping with cancer may seek to access information.
	Visión y Compromiso Funding will add 10-15 promotores to the Visión y Compromiso San Fernando Valley Regional committee, enabling increased engagement of Latino individuals and families in community health activities and strengthening collaboration among city and county agencies, community based organizations and other stakeholders in the region. Funds will also be used to support a day-long training/conference for more than 100 community health workers focusing on cancer, immigration, and mental health.
	Western University College of Graduate Nursing Funding will enable Western University’s College of Graduate Nursing to expand their services at the Urban Mission Food Pantry in Pomona by providing healthier food options, hygiene and personal products, books and school supplies. In addition, an “ask-a-nurse” booth will be hosted weekly. The booth will be staffed by nursing students and faculty to conduct basic health screenings, answer health-related questions and provide education and referrals on cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. These enhanced services will be promoted through a public service and outreach campaign.