Programs: The everychild foundation ("the foundation") was formed in 1999 and began operations in july 2000. It was established to raise funds for distribution to entities and organizations devoted to improving the prospects and easing the suffering of children affected by conditions such as illness, injury, abuse, poverty, and neglect. In addition, the foundation was born out of the belief that a small committed group of women can produce an immediate, tangible impact in the lives of local children without the tremendous commitment of time, energy, and money that most charities invest in annual fundraising activities. The foundation takes a unique approach to philanthropy. The foundation is a non-profit public benefit organization, with membership open to all women in the los angeles area who contribute annual dues of $5,000. Membership is capped at 225 women, enabling the foundation to make an annual grant of $1 million, yet keep administrative costs low. In 2006, the foundation reached its goals of 225 members and a grant of $1 million. The foundation was named the "outstanding private or community foundation" in los angeles for 2004 by the association of fundraising professionals. The annual grant is made in support of a project that will profoundly help local children facing disease, abuse, neglect, poverty, or disability. The grant recipient is chosen by a vote of the entire foundation membership from a roster of carefully screened candidate projects. Foundation salons are held two to four times a year; outside expert speakers are brought in to inform the foundation participants on highly topical children's issues. Activities such as recruitment breakfasts and salons are funded entirely through non-participant cash contributions, in-kind donations, and earned income. Foundation activities, the foundation administration, and the grant process are staffed by unpaid foundation volunteers, with the assistance of a grant consultant, enabling the foundation to keep administrative costs low. Since its inception, the foundation has made fourteen annual grants to local non-profit organizations. Disbursements began in the following year in accordance with the grant agreement and may span multiple years. The foundation has made the following grants: 1) $230,000 grant in 2000 to queenscare funded a state-of-the-art mobile dental clinic to serve thirty low income elementary schools in the lausd. 2) $385,000 grant in 2001 to wonder of reading funded renovation and re-stocking of fifteen elementary school libraries and a creation of a replicable model. 3) $600,000 grant in 2002 to the violence intervention program, an organization dedicated to assessing and treating children impacted by violence. A building was renovated, creating the everychild foundation center for the vulnerable child, where physically and sexually abused children receive treatment, long-term counseling, mentoring, and tutoring services. 4) $630,000 grant in 2003 to optimist youth homes ("optimist"), an organization dedicated to transforming the lives of teenagers, many of whom are referred to this agency from the juvenile justice system. The grant was used for the construction of the new everychild foundation youth learning center for abused, neglected, and other at-risk children. 5) $715,000 grant in 2004 to hillsides agency ("hillsides"), an organization dedicated to providing a continuum of services to severely disturbed abused children, many of whom are placed at hillsides through the foster care system. The monies were used for a self-sustaining project establishing housing for transitioning emancipated foster youth. 6) $925,000 grant in 2005 to los angeles orthopedic hospital foundation, an organization dedicated to providing state of the art orthopedic treatment to all children without regard for ability to pay. The grant was used to build the first "universally accessible playground" in the u. S. Associated with a major pediatric center, located on the campus of the hospital's pediatric outpatient medical clinic in downtown los angeles. 7) $1,000,000 grant in 2006 to heart of los angeles youth ("hola"), an organization dedicated to providing enrichment programs to elementary, middle, and high school children in the rampart district. The grant will be used to transform lafayette park community center into a "safe space" for neighborhood children through capital additions and alterations to the currently scheduled and publicly funded park renovation. 8) $1,000,000 grant in 2007 to mar vista family center, a grass roots agency that serves a low-income, densely populated, urban neighborhood adjacent to the only federal housing project in west los angeles. The grant was the final funding needed for a new everychild foundation youth center ("youth center") which opened in february 2009. Youth center is the anchor building for the entire mar vista complex and houses the agency's by youth for youth group of programs, which offer youth-led life skills training, leadership opportunities, and academic enrichment to at-risk youth ages 13-21. 9) $1,000,000 grant in 2008 to st. John's well child and family center, inc. ("st. John's") a non-profit network of federally qualified health centers and school-based clinics throughout downtown, south, and northeast los angeles. Through the grant, st. John's will expand "healthy homes, healthy kids", an environmental project targeting two primary illnesses, asthma and lead poisoning. 10) $1,000,000 grant in 2009 to south bay center for counseling to implement "youth career pathways". This is a one-year job training program for 16 and 17 year olds which results in placing at-risk youth in living wage jobs in high growth industries. The grant extends over a period of 4 years. 11) $1,000,000 grant in 2010 to boys & girls clubs of the los angeles harbor ("bgclah") which serves disadvantaged youth in the san pedro and wilmington areas. Bgclah will expand its program to provide academic support to youth, giving them the skills necessary to graduate from high school and continue to college, provide training to other clubs, and develop a website to replicate the program. 12) $1,000,000 grant in 2011 to centinela youth services ("cys"), a community-based agency established in 1975 to address the rising youth crime and violence in four cities. Cys will launch the everychild restorative justice center within the inglewood juvenile courts to divert vulnerable, high-risk minority teens from the juvenile justice system to break the cycle of delinquent behavior that leads to failure in school, adult crimes and adult incarceration. 13) $1,000,000 grant in 2012 to public counsel, the nation's largest non-profit law firm specializing in delivering pro bono legal services to low-income individuals established in 1970, to launch and sustain the everychild families forever project to provide every child whose adoption or guardianship they complete, with the subsequent legal and social services necessary to ensure long term success. 14) $1,000,000 grant in 2013 to the children's clinic to launch the everychild bright beginnings initiative, a program designed to address the effects of toxic stress and chronic exposure to violence in infants, toddlers, and pregnant mothers. Experts believe it to be the first ever project to embed toxic stress screenings into routine pre-natal and pediatric medical checkups. 15) $1,000,000 grant in 2014 to 1736 family crisis center to fund capital expenditures for their project to renovate a house, creating an optimal environment for its 42 year old emergency youth shelter program. The new facility will become the program's permanent home and include: the shelter, 24-hour intake, 24-hour crisis/suicide hotline response, 24-hour walk-in/drop-in services, individual/group/family counseling, case management, life skills training, safe post-shelter housing arrangements, aftercare services, and outpatient services for at-risk, community youth.
