Since 1942, Didi Hirsch has been serving communities in Southern California. They aim to promote mental wellness, prevent suicide, and break through the stigmas associated with mental illness. Didi Hirsch’s work spans beyond their clinical work in mental health as they have several programs and initiatives dedicated to serving their diverse communities. These partnerships expand access to mental health care and drive innovation in addressing mental health challenges. Their commitment to mental health shows through their comprehensive services, dedication to diversity, and community engagement efforts. 

Emerging adulthood is marked by growth, change, and at times strong emotions. The Didi Hirsch Teen Line acknowledges this sensitive time and acts as a safe space for teens in crisis. The Teen Line is a space for teens to seek support, resources, and hope through professionally trained teen counselors. L.L. Foundation for Youth was able to support Didi Hirsch through providing support to facilitate their Mental Health Services’ Teen Line.  The teen counselors go through extensive training with licensed professionals that teach them skills like crisis management and suicide assessment. These trained teen counselors are available on a hotline from 6-10PM PST every night to respond to calls, text, and emails from other teens in need. Being able to speak with another teen provides powerful support for teens in crisis. The Teen Line program also provides education opportunities for parents and caregivers on mental health and warning signs of suicide. The Teen Line is so unique because it is a space that enables teens to get support by other teenagers who can empathize with them. This approach fosters an additional sense of safety and understanding that can be difficult to achieve during these sensitive times in one’s life. 

The Teen Line program is essential because it aims to help teens tackle the issues that tend to emerge in this part of their lives and provide hope. Didi Hirsch has trained over 2,000 high school students to be figures in their communities through providing a safe space and mental health support. L.L. Foundation for Youth is proud to partner with such an impactful organization.  

L.L. Foundation for Youth has provided Optimist Youth Homes and Family Services with a grant of $100,000.00. OYHFS has been dedicated to helping children in and at risk of foster care achieve success at home, at school, and beyond for over a century. In response to the fragmented services experienced by many youth in the child welfare system, OYHFS provides a full continuum of care that supports youth over time, across all levels of care, and into adulthood.

The funding from this grant, along with additional funding and contracts, has enabled the organization to renovate old dormitories, modernize its facilities, and provide affordable and safe transitional housing for former foster youth, along with a community garden, large kitchen, and recreation facilities. Additionally, OYHFS has successfully implemented a program with case management support centered around wellness, education, relationships, and career. With the program in place and the housing almost completed, OYHFS was able to accept the contract offered by LA County Child and Family Services for providing transitional housing for 18+-year-old foster youth and allowing them to serve more young adults.

We are really very appreciative of LLFY Foundation. It has been transformative for us: it was the right gift, the right size, at the right time. It lined up.

Todd Sosna, Ph.D., CEO

L.L. Foundation for Youth is proud to support Our House Grief Support Center’s Camp Erin with a $75,000 grant. Our House has been helping children, teens, and adults in Los Angeles County find healing after the death of someone close for over 27 years. Camp Erin, a grief camp weekend for children and teens, combines traditional camp experiences with grief support activities to provide a weekend of hope and healing. The day camp and overnight camp allow children to receive support in a safe space with new tools. With the addition of music therapy and the desire to increase the number of pick-up locations, Camp Erin is expanding its reach and providing essential grief support to even more children and families in Los Angeles County. 

“Everything is free once the youth arrives at the camp. Partly due to the funds received from LLFY.” 

–  Josh Goldman, Director of Development at Our House

Due to the constraints of COVID, Camp Erin had to be resourceful and creative. They decided to try a day camp. The day camp differs from the overnight camp because with the overnight camp, the children are dropped off, and the guardians return only for the last day’s ceremony. But with the day camp, the guardians stay at camp for the day. While the focus is still on the children, some program material weaves the guardians in, giving them an opportunity to talk to their child about grief in a safe space with new tools. The Day Camp has been exceptionally well-received, and they are hosting both a day camp and overnight camp this year – supported with funds received from L.L. Foundation for Youth.

Lost Angels Children’s Project (LACP) is a nonprofit organization that provides innovative vocational training, social enterprise, and traditional outreach programs to disadvantaged youth in distressed communities in the Antelope Valley and Lancaster areas of Los Angeles County. LACP’s 12-week work program is funded by a multi-year grant of $225,000 from the L.L. Foundation for Youth. The program includes a six-week apprenticeship and six weeks of on-the-job training in classic car repair and shop skills, along with soft skills training provided by The Los Angeles County Office of Education. Thanks in part to the L.L. Foundation for Youth grant, scholarships covering the entire tuition amount are provided to those accepted into the program.

According to Cheyanne Capelo, Director of Operations and Development from Lost Angels Children’s Project, “The issue is that basic necessities are needed to be able to complete vocational training…Such a key piece for our program is to help reduce barriers. The L.L. Foundation for Youth grant has allowed LACP to help students overcome barriers to participation in the program by providing assistance with basic necessities such as transportation and housing.” For example, Destiny, a single mother of four coming from an abusive relationship, was able to complete the program with the help of LACP’s grant, which provided her with a deposit and first month’s rent. With the help of the L.L. Foundation for Youth, LACP is able to reduce barriers to participation and change the lives of its students.

Lost Angels Children’s Project has made significant strides in providing vocational training and removing barriers for disadvantaged youth. With the support of L.L. Foundation for Youth, LACP hopes to continue to increase the number of students who can participate in the program and provide more opportunities for BIPOC youth and females. As Cheyanne stated, “Year 1 of 3 years for the [multi-year] grant helped change a lot of students’ lives.”

Children of the Night is an organization like no other. Established in 1979 by Lois Lee, Children of the Night was created to provide intervention, case management and resources for children who are sexually exploited and as a result involved in various forms of prostitution and pornography. Children of the Night has solidified its place as one of the most successful organizations tackling the specific needs of sex-trafficked youth as they have maintained a 70% – 80% success rate. Children of the Night is also responsible for putting hundreds of their program participants through college and other forms of continued education.  

The fight for victims of sex trafficking continues to the present day and L.L. Foundation for Youth was proud to contribute to this mission. Children of the Night works hard to help victims reimagine their lives and regain a sense of normalcy. L.L. Foundation for Youth was able to fund additional case management services. Cases managers here provide around the clock services that help victims get access to medical help, medication, and other social service benefits as well as access to mental health care to help with extensive trauma. Having this level of support is crucial to a brighter future for sex trafficking victims.  

In addition to case management, youth involved with Children of the Night are given opportunities to continue, finish, and extend their education through various tutoring programs we were able to support with. Children of the Night residents were required to attend schooling through the week and got to participate in various activities. At the end of those weeks, students got to participate in fun activities like visiting amusement parks and the beach. Children of the Night provides the educational foundations needed for its participants to get high school diplomas and go on to begin college, vocational schooling and many other forms of higher education. With education being a major piece of rehabilitation for these youth, Children of the Night has created global tutoring programs for victims across the world. 

L.L. Foundation for Youth commends Children of the Night and is proud to support them in their goal of rescuing sex trafficked children.  

Deep Springs College is a unique place for higher learning that grounds itself on the values of academia, self-governance, and manual labor. They commit to covering full tuition, room and board for their students. The college is located on an isolated cattle ranch in Deep Springs Valley and was created with the intention of preparing young people for a life of service to humanity. The unique curriculum challenges students to take responsibility for themselves and their communities. Deep Springs College alumni have gone on to be Rhode Scholars, politicians and have served in a variety of other high-impact careers. 

L.L. Foundation for youth was greatly inspired by this model. After discussions with Deep Springs, we made the first gift to the Endowment of and a multi-year program commitment to the Summer Session. The summer session is the cornerstone of Deep Springs Curriculum and is attended by all students. This was so critical because the summer semester is where students get their first academic experiences at Deep Springs.  

Despite being in a league of their own in the world of higher education, the challenges they face are not completely different from traditional colleges. The challenges they experienced ranged from managing COVID cases on campus and maintaining staff and faculty positions. Deep Springs views these obstacles in alignment of their core value of students exercising problem-solving capabilities. The curriculum at Deep Springs invites students to be self-reliant in ways that will serve them in the future.  

L.L. Foundation for Youth has committed to multi-year support of Deep Springs College. Deep Springs often finds support and funding from generous alumni and friends that believe in their mission but this partnership with L.L. Foundation for Youth has exposed them to the other funding possibilities that exist to support them in their work.