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.  

City of Hope is an organization dedicated to the research and development of life-changing treatments for cancer. They strive to transform the future of cancer care and work diligently to not only support patients through treatment but also their caregivers and family members. City of Hope combines cutting-edge research, compassion, and innovation to create hopeful realities for all impacted. While the City of Hope exists in several locations across the United States, L.L. Foundation for Youth had the opportunity to directly support the team located in Southern California.  

Statistics show that one out of every 20 new cancer diagnoses are found in adolescents and young adults (AYAs) between the ages of 15 and 39. Emerging adulthood is a time often marked by exciting life transitions that a cancer diagnosis can derail. AYA cancer patients are faced with emotional challenges associated with not being able to participate in the major coming of age milestones and no longer feeling a sense of control over their lives. City of Hope helps to support youth experiencing these challenges through their AYA Patient Navigator Program. This program creates a safe space for youth to overcome barriers related to their diagnosis and aims to increase their quality of life. This program provides a strong foundation for AYAs with a cancer diagnosis to become active participants in their journey.  

L.L. Foundation for Youth has been integral to the support of hiring new AYA navigators who are responsible for supporting youth through this unique journey. This role will be responsible for connecting patients to support services and continuing to build out the core of this program. The Patient Navigator Program aims to enroll 50 AYAs impacted by their cancer diagnosis.  

In addition to the ongoing work to build out a strong infrastructure for the AYA Patient Navigator program, the City of Hope received public recognition for their research efforts. Dr. Saro Armenian was awarded the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology (ASPHO) Frank Oski Lectureship which recognizes exceptional investigators in pediatric hematology and oncology. In May of 2023 he will have an opportunity to give a lecture at the annual ASPHO meeting in May 2023, where the innovative work supported by the L.L. Foundation for Youth, including the AYA Patient Navigator Program will be mentioned.  

We at L.L. Foundation for Youth are so honored to participate in these life-changing opportunities for cancer patients.  

The Braille Institute was founded over 100 years ago in 1919 by accidental gunshot survivor J. Robert Atkinson. Left blind by his injuries he went on to learn Braille, publish a braille magazine and distribute braille works through the National Library Service. He began what we know as the Braille Institute. Today the Braille Institute has locations across California, mobile formats, and virtual services. The Braille Institute works tirelessly to provide the visually impaired and blind with free resources, workshops and events.

Braille Institute’s Youth Services Program provides services to youth by way of workshops. The participants are primarily youth of color and are from low-income areas. Their goals for 2022 were to serve 44 students and upgrade their library to accommodate the new need for remote learning. In addition to their goals of increasing access to their invaluable resources, they hosted a virtual support group for families. The Braille Institute also made a remarkable impact with their “I’m Going to College” days, where blind and visually impaired youth got to explore their options when it came to being successful in higher education. This program was remarkable because it unlocked new opportunities for youth.

During COVID-19, Braille was forced to deliver programming on a remote basis. This increased the need for services and capacity. Through our grant the Braille Institute was able to expand their youth services:

“[L.L. Foundation for Youth’s] generous $100,000 grant allowed us to think inspirationally and grow the scope and number of our activities for the year. We were able to promote our Youth Assistant to Youth Specialist/Instructor and hire a new Youth Assistant in her place while adding more hours to the position.”

In addition to this, L.L. Foundation for Youth provided funds to support the renovations and additions to the Braille Institute Library.

L.L. Foundation for Youth is proud to be part of the Braille Institute and grateful for the opportunity to support such a rich, life-enhancing programs.