13 Nonprofit Organizations Receive Total of $1.56 million from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health

PALO ALTO – The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health has approved $1.56 million in grants to 13 nonprofit organizations that serve children and youth in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, foundation President and CEO Stephen Peeps announced today.

The awards range from $50,000 to $250,000, over one to three years. The funds support programs in two focus areas: protecting children, ages 0 to 5, from injury, with an emphasis on preventing child abuse and neglect; and promoting behavioral, mental, and emotional health in preteens.

“The majority of grants will cover the cost of program-related operating expenses, mirroring a relatively new trend in grantmaking to provide more flexible funding and core support for community nonprofits,” said Peeps. “Our grantmaking staff and board also decided that is important to sustain current programs and expand existing programs to help agencies accommodate the influx of new clients that is resulting from tough economic times and rising unemployment.”

Six grants totaling $725,000 were awarded to Santa Clara County. Two of the Santa Clara County organizations have received grants from the foundation in the past. The grantees and their awards are:

City Year San Jose: $100,000, over two years, for its Student Enrichment and Educational Development program, which provides after-school activities, academic support, and service learning projects for preteens at Columbia Middle School in Sunnyvale and Rogers Middle School in west San Jose. This is City Year’s second grant from the foundation.

Digital Clubhouse Network: $75,000, over three years, for the Kids on the Web after-school program, which encourages preteens to use the Internet and digital media for research and to produce and disseminate information about healthful lifestyles.

Mexican Heritage Corporation of San Jose: $50,000, over one year, to sustain and expand its 10-year-old Mariachi Youth Program, which, as a youth development strategy, teaches young people how to read music, play by ear, sing, and play all mariachi instruments, including the violin, trumpet, guitar, vihulea (a small guitar) and the guitarron (the bass).

Project Cornerstone: $200,000, over three years, to support its Youth-Led Neighborhood Connections Project, a six-city project that trains and empowers preteens to become leaders in building caring neighborhood communities. This is Cornerstone’s second grant from the foundation.

Resources for Families and Communities in Santa Clara County: $50,000, over one year, for Developing Family and Community Strength in Santa Clara County, a project to upgrade the agency’s database system and publish a comprehensive report on family and community strengths in the county.

Silicon Valley Children’s Fund: $250,000, over three years, for an enrichment program for abused, neglected and abandoned youth living in Santa Clara County’s Children’s Shelter.

Six grants totaling $751,400 were awarded to San Mateo County. Two of the San Mateo County organizations have won grants from the foundation in the past. The grantees and their awards are:

Child Care Coordinating Council: $100,000, over two years, for the Prevention of Child Neglect and Abuse Through Child Care Assistance Project, which will revamp the organization’s respite childcare subsidy system so that it better serves parents who are at highest risk of abusing their children.

Community Development Institute: $100,000, over two years, for the middle school component of the Leadership Training Academy that serves East Palo Alto.

Girl’s Club of the Mid-Peninsula: $175,000, over three years, for the Asha-Budding Blossoms Program, an after-school program for preteen girls in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park.

Mid-Peninsula Boys and Girls Club: $101,400, over two years, to expand the Club’s after-school program to the Turnbull Learning Academy in north central San Mateo. This is the Boys and Girls Club’s second grant from the foundation.

Pre-To-Three Homevisiting, Touchpoints Training, and Evaluation: $200,000, over two years, through the San Mateo County Health Services Agency, the largest home visitation program in the county. The grant funds home visitation to families at risk of abusing or neglecting their children, training to build healthcare provider/family relationships, and evaluation of the Pre-To-Three program. This is Pre-To-Three’s second grant from the foundation.

San Francisco 49ers Academy: $75,000, over two years, for the Youth Development Project, an after-school program that provides mentoring, anger management, male role-modeling, and discussions on body image, violence in relationships, and sexual health.

A $90,000 grant, over two years, was awarded to Jewish Family and Children’s Services, which serves both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties with a mentoring program for preteens living between Burlingame and Sunnyvale.

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health makes community grants twice yearly in its two focus areas. Funds for the grants program come from interest generated by the foundation’s endowment and a partnership grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. In addition to its twice-yearly grants, the foundation makes grants to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, and awards occasional grants by invitation to community organizations. To date, the foundation has awarded 131 grants, totaling $16,607,768 million, to 93 different nonprofit organizations.

The foundation was established as a public charity in 1996, when the previously independent Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital became part of Stanford University Medical Center. The foundation’s mission is to “promote, protect, and sustain the physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children.” For more information about the foundation’s community grantmaking program, call (650) 736-0676, or visit the foundation’s grantmaking Web site.