Two Redwood City Child Health Organizations Receive Grants
PALO ALTO – The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health has awarded a two-year, $150,000 grant to the Redwood City Healthy Start Network child abuse prevention program, and $25,000 to the San Carlos Healthy Cities Project youth mentoring program.
The grants were two of 11 awards recently announced by Stephen Peeps, foundation president and CEO.
The Healthy Start Network supports families in East Redwood City at risk of child abuse by providing in-home education, family counseling, assistance with basic needs, and links to community resources. The program has 32 bilingual staff and serves 400 families.
The Healthy Cities Project attempts to reach youth before they make detrimental life choices. The one-on-one tutoring program works to raise self-esteem and increase academic achievement. The program currently serves 163 students in five San Carlos schools, kindergarten through eighth grade.
The Lucile Packard Foundation makes grants 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 pre-teens.
Other San Mateo county grantees are: The Coastside Collaborative for Children, Youth, and Families, $20,000 over two years; Family Support Center of the Mid-Peninsula, $88,000 over two years; Peninsula Family YMCA, $75,000 over two years; and the San Francisco 49ers Academy, $75,000.
Santa Clara County grantees and their awards are: Catholic Charities of San Jose, $250,000 over two years; Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, $150,000 over two years; Mexican American Community Services Agency, $125,000 over two years; and Social Advocates for Youth, $175,000 over two years. Today’s Youth Matter, an organization that works to build the self-esteem of troubled youth from both counties, will receive $121,405, over three years, to add year-round mentoring to its current summer camp program.
The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health 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.”
Funding for the community grantmaking program comes from the foundation’s endowment. Grants are awarded twice a year, in June and December.
The foundation also is the fundraiser for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the pediatric programs at Stanford Medical School. A program of public information and education regarding children’s health issues is under development at the foundation.
For more information about the foundation’s community grantmaking program, call (650) 736-0676, or visit the Web site, www.lpfch.org.