The UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center are pleased to announce our 2019 Community Seed Grants!
We are pleased to announce the 15 organizations that were selected for funding as our 2019 Community Seed Grantees. These outstanding projects were selected from a pool of 90 high quality applications. Through the generous support of Doctora Monica Salinas, we are honored to have the ability to fund this large group of organizations. 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.
Adelante Youth Alliance: Inspired Wellness Project
Funding will enable Adelante to provide trainings for 15-20 teachers and staff at Madison Elementary School in Northwest Pasadena to help them recognize symptoms of mental health problems, offer help, and guide students to appropriate treatments. The project aims to reduce the effects of trauma in an underserved community.
Antelope Valley Partners for Health:
AVPH Food Pantry and Emergency Meals Program
Funding will enable AVPH to purchase a refrigerator and add transportation resources in order to serve more families through its Food Pantry and Emergency Hot Meals Program. In addition, the increased refrigeration and freezer space will allow AVPH to provide more fresh fruits and vegetables for the families that they serve.
The C.I.T.Y. x1 Youth Group:
2019 Holiday Dinners for LGBT Homeless Youth
Funding will help expand a program which offers holiday dinners to LGBT youth in Hollywood who are experiencing homelessness, with the goal of connecting them to social service providers and getting them off the streets. The program includes workshops through which teens learn about transitional living, job trainings, and counseling services.
Families and Criminal Justice: MIRACLE
Funding will allow for expansion of a program which supports pregnant, incarcerated women and their families. The goal is to promote the optimal health and development of the children of justice-involved women. Activities include family advocacy, peer counseling, and maternal support services at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood.
Meals on Wheels West: Venice Branch
Funding will support Meals on Wheels West as it establishes a Venice branch to better serve the needs of low-income seniors, veterans, the chronically ill, disabled and formerly homeless clients in the area. Services provided to clients include a daily Wellness Check and referrals to other social service agencies.
Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP):
Living With Love
Funding will support a program to address depression, anxiety, domestic violence, and other psycho-social problems among Mexican indigenous communities in Oxnard. The curriculum is taught in Spanish and Mixteco by trained promotoras.
Ola Fou Church: New Life Empowerment
Funding will support a program to promote healthy lifestyles among Samoan church members in the Lomita area. Activities will include Zumba classes, nutrition classes and demonstrations, and a community garden.
Partners in Care Foundation: Combatting Chronic Pain
Funding will enable Partners in Care to hold workshops on chronic pain management at low-income housing sites for older adults. To serve the needs of Mandarin Speaking residents, a facilitator will be trained to provide programming in this language.
Promesa Boyle Heights: Promotora Network
Funding will support a network of health systems navigators and peer educators to address mental and other health issues through one-on-one and group-based outreach. The project aims to increase access to affordable health and wellness services in the Boyle Heights area.
Social Justice Learning Institute:
Food for Thought Produce Pickup
Funding will allow the Social Justice Learning Institute to expand a program which recovers produce from wholesale food markets and transports it to Morningside High School for sorting and distribution to Inglewood families with limited healthy food options. Produce that is not selected by families will be composted back into school and community gardens.
South Gate Community Environmental Health Action Team:
Air Quality Community Monitoring Project
Funding will enable the South Gate Environmental Health Action Team to purchase 26 sensors so that South Gate residents can monitor particulate matter (PM2.5) in their homes. Sensor data will be open-source and available to anyone with internet access, and will be logged for future analysis.
St. John’s Well Child & Family Center:
South LA Transgender Community Support Group
Funding will allow St. John’s to offer support groups for South LA’s transgender community. The project goal is to improve mental health and provide a safe space for low-income transgender individuals of color.
Vietnamese American Cancer Foundation:
Hope and Wellness Together
Funding will support development and implementation of a program to address the psycho-social needs of Vietnamese cancer patients in Orange County. Activities will include meetings on stress management and coping as well as the training of peer support ambassadors.
Visiόn y Compromiso:
Promotores Ayudando a Prevenir el Cáncer Colorectal
Funding will enable peer educators to offer up to 19 presentations on colorectal cancer screening and prevention in the Northwest San Fernando Valley.The project also includes follow-up phone calls to assess screening outcomes.
Western University of Health Sciences:
Pomona Health Career Ladder
Funding will support monthly, weekend workshops designed to introduce Pomona students from pre-K to 12th grade to careers in the health professions. The workshops will be led by Western University health professions students. Parents will also be invited to learn how to navigate the education system for their children.