Access Books received a grant for their Meet the Author program.  The grant will provide for two author visits at two low-income elementary schools in Los Angeles (250 students per visit, 500 total).  A children’s author will read their book and talk about their work and lives and answer questions. The mission of Access Books is to provide high interest reading material to underserved children in Los Angeles by providing low-income neighborhoods with a warm and welcoming school or community library.  Their purpose is to support childhood literacy by making book donations directly to students and to facilitate events around the love of reading.  Access Books received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in 2019.

Click here to learn more about other grant recipients.

Sages & Seekers’ mission is to develop empathy, combat social isolation and dissolve age-related segregation within our communities, while meeting the universal and compelling need of both young adults and elders to make sense of their lives. This is achieved by creating a sense of intergenerational community in our programs, through the art of authentic conversation.

Why connect these generations?

Many of the issues both teens and older adults deal with are mutual in nature, even though they seem miles apart. Both generations are searching for meaning and relevance; fighting feelings of loneliness, and many of “not fitting in” or being marginalized; and issues around independence, self-determination and currency in the world.

Today, mental health among youth is proving to be an increasing challenge, largely attributed to the pandemic and demonstrated by increased rates of youth suicide, substance abuse and depression. However, prior to 2020, there was already evidence that mental health problems in teens were on the rise. The prevalence of major depressive disorder in U.S. adolescents has increased, and suicide rates have also hit a 10-year high among young people ages 10 to 24, from 6.8 per 100,000 people in 2007 to 10.6 per 100,000 in 2017, according to the CDC.

At the same time, a 2018 national survey reported by the American Psychological Association showed that loneliness levels among older adults have reached an all-time high, with nearly half of participants reporting they sometimes or always feel isolated and that they do not have meaningful relationships. Such numbers are alarming because of the physical and mental health risks associated with loneliness. According to a meta-analysis, a lack of social connection heightens health risks as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or having alcohol use disorder.

Sages & Seekers addresses these concerns for two generations at once. We provide both students and seniors an alternative to isolation: a sense of purpose and a connection to the larger picture of society and the world. Sages & Seekers also fills a gap in local schools, where teachers and administrators focus on A-G requirements and devote little time to promoting communication skills and other foundations of social emotional learning.

Fringe Benefits Theatre recieved a grant to support their two current youth leadership programs: A. Their “Creative Tools for Critical Times”/CT4CT multi-school, multi-community arts for civic engagement initiative comprising workshops, internship trainings, performing arts showcases, a web-based video series, and a webinar series led by leaders in the field of Community-Based Arts. These workshops serve approximately 900 people, primarily youth.  B. Their “Join Forces & Create Change!” Theatre for Social Justice Residency bringing together middle school youth in Southern California and in Irpin, Ukraine.  This residency serves 30 local middle school youth participants, 25 youth participants in Ukraine, and approximately 1,250 local middle school audience members.

Fringe Benefits is an educational theatre company dedicated to early hate crime prevention.  Their mission is to replace hate with understanding through collaboratively created plays, videos and programs that promote constructive dialogue about diversity and discrimination issues. They are committed to opening hearts and minds and promoting progressive action around a wide array of social justice issues including racism, sexism, classism, ableism, ageism, and immigration rights.  Fringe Benefits Theatre received a grant from the Leo Buscaglia Foundation in February 2021. 

Fallbrook Food Pantry recieved a grant to help expand their nutrition, wellness, and vocational education courses that support 1000 children and adults. Funds will go to direct program expenses such as food, supplies, educational materials, and educator salaries.  The Fallbrook Food Pantry is a non-profit organization primarily staffed by volunteers.  Its mission is to provide an adequate and nutritious supply of food to individuals in their community who are in-need. They address food insecurity and social determinants of health by reducing inequities through food distribution, education, and health monitoring. For over 30 years, FFP has served a culturally diverse community of low-income and disadvantaged families and empowers clients to become self-sufficient, independent and productive members of the community. 

The Eli Home recieved a grant for Case Management of their CARP (Children of Addicts Recovery Program).  CARP is Eli’s most recent innovation aimed at addressing child abuse, homelessness, and addiction, three of the most pressing social problems of our time. CARPs long-term goals for mothers are sobriety, improved parenting and family relationships, stable housing, financial independence and self-sufficiency.  Between 7/1/22 and 6/30/23 the CARP program served 123 mothers and children.  The Eli Home’s mission is to break the cycle of child abuse.  It aims to strengthen and build resiliency in the lives of children of abuse, neglect, homelessness, poverty, mental illness, undocumented, incarcerated, or addicted parents and prepare them to lead non-violent and equitable lives through shelter, counseling, education, support, and advocacy.

Success stories like Linda’s is just one of the reasons Leo Buscaglia Foundation supported Journey Out in 2020.

LINDA

“I’d be back out ‘there’ if it wasn’t for Journey Out. Washington is my home state, and for years, I was letting myself slip away into a lifestyle I thought was fit for a ‘grown woman’. Little did I know pain, agony, trauma, desperation and helplessness would be the world I introduced myself into. I allowed it to become my reality. Nearly the age of 18, I had already been through two drug treatment centers and a wilderness camp and I thought my world was finally going to turn around. Without truly digging deep into my insecurities and abandonment issues, and not changing my thought process and truly believing in a higher power, I ended up back in the life. I had met a man and fell in love with him. I thought I found a home with him, I thought he loved me, and that I understood why he made me do what he made me do. But when I told him I wanted to stop he got abusive, he never let me go anywhere on my own, he threatened my family. Soon I didn’t care if I lived or died, in fact, I thought dying was better. Until I got on a plane and came to Journey Out I thought dying was the only way out. I probably wouldn’t be alive if not for Journey Out. I think I owe you my life.”

Click here to learn more about Journey Out.