Two East Palo Alto Programs Receive Funding

PALO ALTO – The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health has awarded $150,000, over three years, to Bay Area Community Resources (BACR) and $100,000, over three years, to Pacific Islander Outreach.

The grants are two of 17 awards totaling $2.2 million announced Dec. 18 by Stephen Peeps, foundation president and CEO.

BACR is an organization that helps its community-based programs stay well managed by providing them with assistance in areas such as planning, strategic direction, accounting and evaluation. The grant will fund BACR’s “New Perspectives-East Palo Alto,” a program that seeks to prevent high-risk behaviors and promote the healthy development of middle-school youth.

New Perspectives, established in 1989, engages youth in after-school activities, including tutoring, community service projects and recreational programs. Participants help both plan and implement the group activities. The program serves 160 fifth- through eighth-graders at four middle schools.

“Our New Perspectives program has been providing safe and fun after-school activities for the youth in our community for 12 years,” said Marti Roach, development director at BACR. “This grant provides critical resources over time to enable us to continually develop our program and enhance the experiences we offer youth.”

Pacific Islander Outreach (PIO) will use the grant for its Parenting Program which targets Pacific Islander parents living in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park who are at risk of abusing and neglecting their children. PIO is the only agency in South San Mateo County that focuses specifically on Pacific Islanders.

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health makes grants in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in two 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 other San Mateo grantees and their awards are:
Asian American Recovery, $200,000, over three years, to focus on Filipino youth in Daly City;

Cleo Eulau Center, $100,000, over three years, to evaluate the effectiveness of a program that reaches troubled youth through teachers;

Edgewood Center for Children, $200,000, over two years, to expand its San Mateo Kinship Support Network program for children being raised by grandparents or other relatives;

Friends for Youth, $100,000, over two years, for its Mentoring Assistance Program;

Samaritan House, $102,000, over two years, to support the hiring of a full-time community worker who will focus on outreach to families with children, ages 0 to 5, who are at risk of abuse and neglect;

Shelter Network of San Mateo County, $100,000, over two years, to support a 0 to 5 Children’s Program for homeless children and their families;

Community Learning Center, $100,000, over two years, for an after-school program that takes place at the South San Francisco Public Library;

United Cerebral Palsy Association of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, $100,000, over two years, to gather data on the maltreatment of children with disabilities, ages 0 to 5, in San Mateo County.

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health makes community grants twice yearly. Funds for the grants program, which began in January 2000, comes from the foundation’s endowment. A partnership grant from the California Endowment helps support the foundation’s efforts in youth development and reducing high-risk behavior in preteens. To date, 60 agencies have received grants totaling $6.9 million from the foundation.

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.” It is wholly independent of the Los Altos-based David and Lucile Packard Foundation. For more information about the foundation’s community grantmaking program, call (650) 736-0676, or visit the Web site, www.lpfch.org.