$1.2 Million in Grants to Promote Health, Well Being of Local Children

PALO ALTO – The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health has awarded more than $1.2 million in grants to children’s health organizations in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, foundation President David Alexander, MD, announced today.

Among the grants is $210,000 over three years to Sports4Kids, a program that addresses the emotional, cognitive and physical needs of youth by coordinating full-day sports programming taught from a framework of youth development. The grant will allow Sports4Kids to expand its programming to 24 Silicon Valley schools, with the goal of building environments in which students feel included and safe to play. The grants to other organizations range from $7,000 to $100,000 over one to three years.

“Our grants are intended to support local organizations that work to protect and sustain children’s health, and we place a special focus on the preteen age group,” Alexander said. “Sports4Kids and similar programs help preteens strengthen both their physical and emotional skills during these important years.”

This cycle’s grants include $883,000 in funding to promote emotional behavioral health in preteens, as well as $327,000 for programs that prevent abuse and neglect in children ages 0-5. However, beginning Jan. 1, 2008, the foundation no longer will fund programs preventing abuse and neglect for children ages 0-5. As part of the foundation’s exit strategy in that area, the foundation’s Board approved $77,000 in unrestricted funds to long-time community partners for this grant cycle.

Grants in Santa Clara County

Five of the grants, totaling $468,000, were awarded to organizations in Santa Clara County, which has a child population of about 445,000.

After School All-Stars of Greater San Jose: $80,000 for the After School All-Stars Comprehensive Program at San Jose Unified School District, to support an after-school program that provides academic support, social and life skills development, recreational and sports opportunities and positive relationships with adults in a structured environment.

International Children Assistance Network: $100,000, over two years, for Happy 5 (Nuoi Day Tre Vui Manh) Training the Trainers, to train workshop leaders to provide a culturally and linguistically appropriate child abuse prevention program for Vietnamese families with children under the age of 5.

Mariposa’s Art: $88,000, over two years, for the Art and Leadership Development Program, an arts-based after-school program for fourth- and fifth-grade girls designed to build self-confidence, health awareness and leadership and conflict resolution skills.

Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara: $100,000 for the Unified Family Court Child Protection Project, which aims to ensure that families who appear before the court, particularly those with young children, receive a comprehensive range of services to prevent abuse and promote family strength.

The Unity Care Group: $100,000, over two years, for the Youth After School Leadership Program for At-Risk Youth, to provide an after-school creative arts curriculum, as well as an in-school program focusing on life skills, for students in middle schools and foster group homes in Santa Clara County.

Grants in San Mateo County

Four of the grants, totaling $330,000, were awarded to organizations in San Mateo County, which has a child population of about 167,000.

El Concilio of San Mateo County: $80,000, over two years, for Youth Adelante, an after-school program that includes academic enrichment, recreational activities, health education and culturally sensitive programming for youth.

Mural, Music, and Arts Project: $100,000, over two years, for Health Education Through Art, which utilizes art to educate at-risk preteens about nutrition, healthy lifestyle choices, environmental justice and physiology.

Peninsula Family YMCA: $100,000, over two years, for Support for Moonridge and Main Street Public Housing Communities, a year-round after-school program for low-income, geographically isolated youth from immigrant farm worker families in two Half Moon Bay public housing communities.

Youth and Family Enrichment Services: $50,000 for Healthy Homes, a home-visiting program that provides counseling and advice for families with children under age 5 who have witnessed family violence.

Three grants, totaling $335,000, were awarded to programs serving children in both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Bay Area Partnerships: $25,000 for Program Quality Learning Network, to support workshops and individualized coaching focused on research-based best practices in after-school programming, management and youth development.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area: $100,000, over two years, for the School-Based Mentoring Program, to expand mentoring for students on school campuses in high-risk communities that are difficult to serve through traditional community-based mentoring.

Sports4Kids: $210,000, over three years, for Silicon Valley Expansion, which will bring a full-day sports program, taught from a framework of youth development, to 24 elementary schools.

Funds for the 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 372 grants, totaling $32,862,970, to 173 different nonprofit 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) 736-0675, or visit http://www.lpfch.org/grantmaking