LEARNHope and Healing Project 2025
Our collaboration brings together the power of faith and mental wellness practices to help families with youth and young-adults impacted by community violence and justice impacted to transmute grief and trauma into meaning practice that leads to soul healing, embodied restoration and mental and emotional stabilization. The grant will allow us to scale our programming and reach, create additional resources and partner with schools and other youth focused entities that don't have a budget for wellness activities, but need our services.
What is the primary issue area that your application will impact?
Support for foster and systems-impacted youth
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
South LA City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit)
In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?
Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)
What is your understanding of the issue that you are seeking to address?
In South Los Angeles, more that 50% of the LAUSD student body is comprised of Foster Youth. The fasting growing unhoused population in Los Angeles city are foster youth and those who have aged out of the DCFS system. We understand that many of these youth have also been exposed to some form of community violence and trauma; who also do not have connection with supportive care are also unable to maintain jobs, retain housing and thrive. Our goal is to expand our Hope and Healing program, that has been working with families impacted by community violence and mother of murdered children to now expand our outreach to foster youth and TAY, to assist them toward improved emotional and mental stabilization so they are able to become move toward economic stabilization and thrive. We believe the direct connection with a community of care that is tailored and is able to work with small groups or individuals is an efficient way to assist our foster you the those who have aged out of the system.
Describe the project, program, or initiative this grant will support to address the issue.
Hope and Healing 2025 will work with DCFS, local group homes, Kin-care Families and faith institutions to help identify up to 40 youth and young adults who would be ideal candidates for our program. Those who are referred for the program will participate in a group intake session where we will co-create the tailored curriculum of our nine month program that will include two sessions per month (one virtual and one in-person). Overall we will likely reach indirectly 1000 or more individuals as we will make the Virtual session, open to public registering, who will register online for tracking purposes. The sessions will also include some personal development and life skills development. The goal of co-creating curriculum is those closest to the issues, have the answer to what they need most. At the conclusion of the nine months programming, each participant will walk away with a complete personal strategic plan and connection with a care-coach who will stay connected with them up to six month to track additional progress.
Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.
Los Angeles County will be different because when you change one life, we change families and communities. Every youth or young-adult that becomes a more stable and economically sound residents improves the public safety and overall relational climate in our neighborhoods. In addition, when we strive to stabilize our youth and young adults that minimizes the number of residents experiencing being unhoused or bouncing around from temporary program to temporary situation. Finally, when youth and young-adults become economically sound that helps to bolster our local economy and bottom line GDP.
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?
Direct Impact: 40
Indirect Impact: 1,000