Friendship Foundation received a grant to purchase supplies such as art supplies, crafts, sports equipment, and games for school clubs. Friendship Clubs will reach approximately 2,500 children during the grant year. The Friendship Foundation transforms the lives of people with special needs, their families, volunteers, and eventually society. Friendship Foundation’s mission is to: 1) bring happiness and companionship to children with special needs in a way that celebrates their uniqueness and individuality through participation in age-appropriate social, recreational and educational activities with their peers; 2) build leadership skills and foster the values of altruism, volunteerism, and sacrifice among student volunteers; 3) impart renewed strength, comfort and peace of mind to the parents of these special children; and 4) heighten the community’s awareness, sensitivity and sense of responsibility with regard to responding to these vital needs. The Friendship Foundation (then known as the Friendship Circle) received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in 2010.
Adventures to Dreams Enrichment
Adventures to Dreams Enrichment recieved a grant to support their youth garden program. The funds will be used for lumber for raised garden beds, garden supplies including soil and fertilizer and hands-on educational activities for their youth camps. Their garden serves over 50 youth through enrichment programs and over 250 community members through monthly food giveaways.
The mission of Adventures to Dreams Enrichment is to empower youth by teaching them to grow their own food, engaging them in enrichment activities, providing mentorship and offering a safe environment to lean and play. This provides an open avenue to creativity and open-ended thinking skills.
Access Books
“Love our @AccessBooks volunteers! Our work couldn’t happen without you. Shout out to our families from @pacificschoolpta for helping us with our MLK library refurbishment. Our next volunteer opportunity is fast approaching to sort books in Santa Ana, CA on Saturday, November 7th. Adults, children, and families are all welcome to join us for a few hours to make this day a complete success by signing up through our website”
Village for Vets
Village for Vets received a grant for their Food First program to support food box distribution. This will include paying a truck driver to deliver food boxes to formerly homeless and at-risk veterans who experience food insecurity and who live in permanent support housing in Los Angeles County. About 300 veterans and their families will receive food box distribution two times per month over the next year. Village for Vets fills critical gaps in key services for homeless and at-risk veterans in greater Los Angeles to support them on their journey to stability and independence. They fulfill this mission through four core programs that safeguard the health of vulnerable veterans; promote food, housing and employment security; and provide links to life-changing benefits and services.
As an approved agency of the Westside Foodbank, makes weekly deliveries of food boxes, including produce and pantry staples, to food insecure veterans living in permanent supportive housing in Greater Los Angeles. Many of these buildings are managed by the VA but others are part of New Directions, Step Up on 2nd and LA Family Housing.
Sages and Seekers
For this month’s #SeekerSpotlight, we are featuring Lina!Lina is a first year University student from Bogotá, Colombia. She is extremely familiar with Sages&Seekers, and this upcoming Fall will be her 11th time participating in the program. Fun fact, Lina owns a bakery business!
Her favorite memory in Sages&Seekers has been: “Re-encountering my first sage on my tenth time in the program. Most wonderful feeling ever. All of my sages have had such a meaningful impact on my life, and this particular sage helped me greatly during a low point in the Pandemic.”
Looking forward to having you participate in the Fall Lina!
Click here to learn more about Sages and Seekers
Fringe Benefits Theatre
Fringe Benefits Theatre presents: “Creative Tools for Critical Times: Master Classes with Devised Theatre Innovators”APPLICATIONS DUE: December 21, 2023. 
Find out more & apply @ www.cootieshots.org/master-classes
Find out more & apply @ www.cootieshots.org/master-classes
Follow us & receive updates! @ #CreativeTools4CT
ABOUT THE SERIES: Participants will explore a variety of theatre activism strategies with leaders in the field of Community-Based Theatre. We’re honored to include internationally-acclaimed artists from throughout the United States, as well as from Cairo, Egypt. Fringe Benefits Theatre is hosting these monthly online workshops on weekend afternoons throughout 2024. Thanks to generous foundation and individual support, applicants accepted for the program will be able to participate for FREE!
SEEKING APPLICANTS who are undergraduates &/or recent graduates with skills in improvisation, theatre &/or video, an appreciation for collaborative playwriting & dramaturgy, and a passion for fighting for the things they care about. Applicants can register for one or all 13 Master Classes. Applicants who are accepted into the Certificate Program will receive first preference. Applications are due Thursday, December 21, 2023.
Follow us on Instagram (#CreativeTools4CT) to receive updates and engage with theatre & video arts activists!
We look forward to hearing from you!
UCLA Watts Leadership Institute
This is a great article to learn more about what UCLA Watts Leadership Institute is all about!
Kids and Horses Inc.
What Makes a Therapy Horse?
First off, contrary to some beliefs, therapy horses are not perfect. People in our industry our very aware that the perfect dream horses does not really exist; however, there are some pretty special equine partners out there that are ready to make a difference in the lives of so many.
Job Description
Therapy horses have to be used to being pulled out for lessons throughout the day. Unlike a lot of other horses, they aren’t able to do a long ride and rest for the remainder of the day. Often they have two to three lessons scattered throughout the day’s schedule. On top of that, they have to be used to different riders getting on their backs every day and having a variety of handlers tack and lead them. Therapy horses are commonly surrounded by a small army of people and are exposed to a variety of toys, props, noises, over the topline activity, etc. Not every horse can do this, but we sure do love and appreciate the ones that are ready, willing, and love their jobs.
What are we looking for?
Our program is currently on the look-out for some new equines to join our herd. Here is a small list of what we are hoping to find. We are open to some discussion on the size and age standards.
~ Perfect age range for us (at the moment) is between 10 and 20 years old.
~ Size-wise we usually look for 14-15hh. We appreciate the stocky horses that can carry adult-sized riders, but we also enjoy having some narrower horses for our little riders. We are on the hunt for a Draft/Quarter Horse cross!
~No major health problems or lameness issues.
~We aren’t usually picky about breeds of horses. It all depends on their background and temperament, but you won’t usually find any of the typically high-strung breeds on the property. So far, we have had good luck with ranch and trail horses, and we have had a couple of retired three-day eventers work phenomenally with our clients.
~We appreciate horses that are versatile, solid, quiet, calm, tolerant, patient, good with people, able to accept a lot of sensory input (toys, noises, etc.), and not typically spooky.
How does it work?
We usually lease all of our horses from their owners. The horses are brought to the ranch for an assesment. Our equine manager and her team of staff and/or volunteers go through some steps to decide if we should accept the horse into the trial program. The horses than go through a 60-90 day trial in which they are exposed to what a day of lessons look like through mock lessons and one-on-one sessions with the horse team. From there, the horse may or may not graduate into becoming one of our prized therapy horses. All of our horses are well-taken care of and loved on daily.
Do you have a horse that you think might make a good therapy horse? Fill out the form below and let us know!
Street Poets
These are the programs offered by Street Poets. They harnesses the healing power of poetry and music to build community and inspire the next generation to write, rap and dream a new world into being for us all.
Journey Out
Journey Out received a grant to support and help sustain their newly implemented Survivor Advocate program, which employs a Survivor to help train clinicians on identifying victims of human trafficking, as well as provide crisis response and follow-up case management services to identified victims of human trafficking at their bedside (in clinical settings). Journey Out also provides basic need (food, clothing, hygiene products, and PPE) resources to clients, particularly those who we place in transitional housing. They expect to serve approximately 300 victims of human trafficking over a 12-month period. The mission of Journey Out is to help victims of commercial sexual exploitation and sex trafficking leave a life of abuse and violence, overcome their fears and empower them to reach their full potential and achieve their goals. Journey Out also received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in February 2020.Half of the staff at Journey Out are survivors themselves that desire to help others have their own survival stories. Many of the members who have gone through their program also come back to volunteer and help. They see the value of caring for others as they were cared for in the Journey Out program.
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