$2.7 Million in Grants to Promote Health, Well Being of Local Children

PALO ALTO – A grant to recruit and train staff for after school programs, and another to expand a Spanish-language parent leadership program in East Palo Alto, are among nine grants announced today by the board of directors of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health.

The grants, totaling more than $2.7 million, support organizations that serve children in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Seven of the grants provide funding in two focus areas: protecting children ages 0-5 from injury, with an emphasis on preventing abuse and neglect; and promoting behavioral and emotional health in preteens, ages 9-13. Two grants, made in partnership with Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, will support school nurses and an anti-obesity program.

The seven grants, totaling $1.33 million, include:

California School-Age Consortium: $330,000 over three years for the Developing a Quality After School Workforce program, which will develop a system for recruiting, training and providing professional and leadership opportunities to staff in after school programs in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

Community Learning Center: $220,000 over three years for the Homework Club, an after school program in South San Francisco for students from low-income families. The program offers homework support and a variety of enrichment activities designed to foster leadership, critical thinking and social skills.

Family Connections: $95,000 over three years for the Parent Leadership Project, an education program focused on teaching basic child development knowledge, positive discipline techniques and anger and stress management to parents of children ages 0-5 living in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

John Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (Stanford University): $226,000 over three years for Youth in the Middle, a pilot project to train adults who work in schools and after school programs on effective youth development practices. The project’s goal is to offer preteens in Redwood City a consistent, supportive environment.

Nuestra Casa: $170,000 over two years to expand the existing Spanish-language Parents as Leaders program to include a social-emotional learning component. The East Palo Alto program aims to encourage parents of preteens to become involved in school activities and take action to improve underperforming schools.

Samaritan House: $190,000 over three years for Samaritan House Family Resource Center, a program for San Mateo County families with children ages 0-5 that offers abuse prevention workshops and parent education services, and links families to the social services they need.

Women’s Recovery Association: $100,000 over three years for The Children’s Program: Child Abuse Prevention and Parenting Services, which provides substance abuse treatment, parenting education, counseling services and housing assistance to mothers of children ages 0-5.

Funds for these grants program come from the foundation’s endowment and a partnership grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Since December 2000, the foundation has awarded 348 grants, totaling $31,577,970, to 170 different nonprofit organizations.

The two grants made with Packard Hospital total $1.4 million over five years. One will address the need for additional nurses in low-income schools, and the second will support a program to bring tested anti-obesity programs in to schools and community organizations.

The foundation is a public charity whose 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 http://www.lpfch.org/grantmaking.