826LA
826LA is a non-profit dedicated to supporting students 6 to 18 with creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire students to write. Our free programs transport students to a world where writing is a form of magic, their voices are celebrated, and anything is possible.
Visit this organization’s website to learn more
7 Submitted Ideas
- 2013 Grants Challenge·🎉 2013 Goldhirsh Foundation Winner
1000 Mentors for Students: Build a Greater City of Angels with 826LA!
Imagine Los Angeles in the year 2050 when we all play a part in educating our city’s youngest citizens. Volunteering is as common as going to the gym. Adults feel fulfilled because they are connecting with others. School children are thriving because they have a community of role models who serve as mentors. Los Angeles is flourishing because everyone lends a hand.
In this vision of Los Angeles, education reaches beyond the classroom. Children have a wealth of teachers because adults volunteer a few hours of their time each week. With so many caring adults cheering them on, students are more focused and excited to learn.
To make our vision of L.A. in 2050 a reality, 826LA will inspire over 1,000 Angelinos to make volunteering part of their lives in 2013. By sharing their talents and their time, these volunteers will help students across Los Angeles to make great leaps in learning. Studies show that students who receive one-on-one attention from adults improve their academic outcomes, behavior, and self-esteem. All of these attributes are crucial for the future parents, workers, and leaders of our city.
This idea will not only improve the existing problems in Los Angeles’ education system, it will encourage a culture of compassion in our city. As volunteer Kelly told 826LA, “It feels good to give yourself to something else.” By sharing their experiences with their friends and families, these 1,000 volunteers will encourage even more people to volunteer to lead a workshop, to coach a soccer game, or to help a child with their homework. Pretty soon, everyone in L.A. will be doing it, and we’ll all be the better for it, too.
CREATE ·2024 Grants ChallengeCreative Quills Mentorship Program at 826LA
With support from LA2050, 826LA will expand upon our creative writing and mentorship workshop programs at Venice H.S., and our Mar Vista and Echo Park Writing Labs. Speakers and mentors from creative professions will meet with students who will learn about creative industry jobs from varying fields including film, television, podcasting, video game development, and music. Students in the program will craft pieces of creative writing, and the program will culminate in the celebration of a published book at the end of the 24-25 school year.
LEARN ·2023 Grants ChallengeStudents of Los Angeles Write the Future
The youth of Los Angeles tell the best stories about our city, but many of them aren't given the opportunity. That's why 826LA provides free writing and tutoring programs for those students, most of whom are from under-resourced communities. Working one-on-one with caring volunteers, students are given the opportunity to follow their imaginations, develop their voices, improve their academics, work on college application essays, learn about the creative economy, and become published authors, with 826LA's free programs and support.
- LEARN ·2022 Grants Challenge
Students Write the Future
No one is better equipped to tell the stories of Los Angeles youth than young people themselves. But too many of them aren’t given that opportunity. That’s why 826LA provides free writing and tutoring programs for students who attend under-resourced schools. Working one-on-one with caring volunteers, students hone their voices, improve their academics, work on college application essays, follow their imaginations, and even publish books with 826LA’s support.
CONNECT ·2020 Grants ChallengeChanging the Story: Connecting Los Angeles Communities Through Volunteering
826LA will inspire Los Angeles residents to support local students by volunteering. 826LA will develop outreach strategies to recruit new volunteers, with a focus on volunteers-of-color and older volunteers. 826LA will create relevant trainings for volunteers to complete online and in our centers. These steps will help 826LA grow its volunteer program, with a focus on ensuring all our spaces remain safe and supportive for students.
- CONNECT ·2018 Grants Challenge
Write the Future of LA: 100,000 Stories to Connect Volunteers
By sharing student writing with 100,000 Angelenos, Los Angeles will connect as 826LA volunteers or supporters to amplify and honor the voices of young people from underserved communities.
- LEARN ·2015 Grants Challenge
Inspiring tomorrow’s storytellers today
826LA and Young Storytellers will partner to inspire students to discover the power of their voice by helping them share their stories with the world. To encourage students to develop creative learning behaviors and English & Language Arts skills, L.A. must first show our youngest citizens that these skills matter by reinforcing that their voices matter. 826LA and Young Storytellers will engage volunteers to help today’s students become tomorrow’s storytellers.