Signature Programs
Engineering for Health Academy 2013-2014: $23,874
Community Partner: Bravo Medical Magnet High School (Maria Torres Flores)
University Partner: Keck School of Medicine (Joseph Cocozza)
The Engineering for Health Academy (EHA) is designed as a small learning community within the context of the larger comprehensive high school. The major goals of this program are to introduce high school students, including English language learners, to the broad spectrum of biomedical engineering (BME) career opportunities. Mentoring is central to all aspects of the EHA program. USC graduate students meet with the high school students on a weekly basis to help them in their core EHA classes.
The USC NAI Saturday Academy, Providing Educational Equity: $65,300
Community Partner: Foshay Learning Center (Lisa Beebe)
University Partner: USC Educational Partnerships (Kim Thomas-Barrios)
The USC Neigborhood Academic Initiative is a rigorous program that sets high expectations for its students. NAI Scholars are pushed to work harder than their peers to achieve the goal of getting to college. NAI closely monitors student attendance, performance and overall participation in the program. After 20+ years of successfully serving the University Park Campus community, NAI is expanding its offerings to USC’s Health Science Campus beginning January 2014.
USC PT Fit Families: $17,107
Community Partner: HSC USC Family of Schools (Linda Esposito)
University Partner: USC Physical Therapy (Cheryl Resnik)
Fit Families provides pro bono preventive and wellness physical therapy services to 10-17 year old children and their parents in the local community diagnosed with or at high risk for diabetes and conditions associated with physical inactivity. The grant will support a nine month program that includes initial and discharge evaluations of activity level and cardiovascular fitness completed after participation in the six week program.
USC Troy Camp: $53,774
Community Partner: UPC USC Family of Schools (Shirley Crout)
University Partner: USC Campus Activities (Daniel Arellano)
USC Troy Camp is a youth development organization that aims to promote higher education through long-term mentoring relationships. A non-profit organization at the University of Southern California, Troy Camp connects USC undergraduates with children in the local community. Troy Camp is operated entirely by USC students, and all Troy Camp programs are provided free of cost for every child. Since its founding in 1948, Troy Camp has served more than 10,000 children in the South-Central Los Angeles community.
Arts programs
After ‘Cool Theatre Program: $28,025
Community Partner: 24th Street Theatre (Jay McAdams)
University Partner: School of Dramatic Arts (Brent Blair)
24th Street Theatre’s After ‘Cool Theatre Program provides free, after-school, standards-based arts education programming for 85 neighborhood kids to spend out-of-school time. The 2013-14 program will provide 30 weeks of free after-school programming, 3 days per week, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM, for approximately 180 hours of active student engagement. The first 10-week session will run Oct. – Dec.and include a parent meeting; the second from Jan. – March; and the third from April – June, culminating in a free performance, followed by a reception for parents and community members.
Mentoring Generations/Young Docent Program: $20,000
Community Partner: Friends, The Foundation of the California African American Museum (Brenda Tyson)
University Partner: American Studies and Ethnicity (Francille Rusan-Wilson)
Young Docents is a skills building and workforce development opportunity for local high-school youth, providing intensive training and direct work experience in museum operations and customer service delivery; designed to enhance the study of African American art, history and culture. The program runs for a total of eight weeks. After training, students take a written test about the content of their program and give an presentation – their first tour. All those who pass the written and oral portions work in the galleries and receive additional training in curatorial practices from CAAM Curators.
Our Neighborhood: Youth Artists as Civic Leaders: $14,500
Community Partner: LA Commons, A Project of Community Partners (Karen Mack)
University Partner: USC Government and Civic Engagement (David Galaviz)
Youth ages 15 – 25 will engage in leading the development of an artistic and policy response to a key issue in the neighborhoods around USC’s University Park Campus: Health. To find unique and creative ways to assess and address these challenges, a team comprised of youth, USC Fine Arts students, EXPO Center Youth Center and professional artists will engage in LA Commons’ established public art process. Through input from community members, the team will explore health-related issues affecting the USC neighborhood, identify ways in which art can make an impact on the dialogue, and design artwork to be installed in the very popular Rose Garden (1 million visitors per year) and other neighborhood locations that will share these stories.
USC Thornton JazzReach: $39,886
Community Partner: 32nd Street School (Victor Sanchez)
University Partner: USC Thornton School of Music (Susan Helfter)
JazzReach is a stimulating jazz enrichment program that provides weekly group/individual instruction and in-school concerts for students in the USC community and opportunities to gain teaching and administrative skills for the Thornton students. JazzReach programming is provided to approximately 1700 students and families from USC neighborhood schools with over 60 USC Thornton students serving as teachers. Nearly 120 students participate in weekly JazzReach classes: choirs, instrumental ensemble, sectionals, and private lessons. The program has a strong mentoring component that aims to instill respect, responsibility and productivity in young people through regular one-on-one contact with a JazzReach mentor.
Education Programs
Adventures Ahead After School Program: $19,723
Community Partner: Redeemer Community Partnership (Lauren Tigrett)
University Partner: Price School of Public Policy (Richard Parks)
Since 1996, Adventures Ahead has partnered with USC students, alumni, and staff to transform local elementary school students reading several grade levels behind into lifelong readers who can reach their full academic potential. Adventures Ahead offers an individualized reading curriculum to 30 students six hours per week during the academic year. An all-day, academically rigorous summer program also incorporates math, science, and health education.
ARC Smart Archaeology Program: $4,832
Community Partners: UPC USC Family of Schools, LAUSD Art & Artifacts (Leslie Fischer)
University Partner: Archaeology (Lynn Dodd)
ARC Smart is a California state standards-based archaeology-themed enrichment program for 6th grade students in the USC neighborhood. ARC Smart includes five in-classroom “field trips” that feature different modes of archaeological exploration, observation, critical thinking, and content about ancient and modern societies. This program creatively brings the museum experience and the excitement of archaeological exploration directly into the classroom. USC’s archaeology faculty joins with USC students so that 6th graders can “get their hands on the past.”
Boyle Heights Beat Ramona Gardens/Bravo Magnet Project: $22,843
Community Partner: Boyle Heights Technology Youth Center (Ozzie Lopez)
University Partner: Annenberg School of Journalism (Michelle Levander)
Boyle Heights Beat nurtures young and adult storytellers in print and online, uniting neighbors on shared concerns. Launched by La Opinión and USC Annenberg, it has been hailed as a news model that could “close the widening inner-city information divide.” La Opinión trucks deliver the newspaper to 22,000 households in Boyle Heights. Another 6,000 copies are distributed in schools, cafes, churches and community centers. Youth reporters produce the print edition. Adult contributors report for our sister websites in English and Spanish: boyleheightsbeat.com and pulsodeboyleheights.com. We also provide opportunities for community members to share photos, illustrations, memories, poems and other contributions to the print and online edition.
Breed Street Shul History in a Box: $19,280
Community Partner: Breed Street Shul Project, Inc. (Sherry Marks)
University Partner: Center for Diversity and Democracy ( Sanchez)
History in a Box inspires 3rd and 4th grade students to explore their neighborhood’s diverse past to strengthen a sense of community and belonging in their present. USC student interns work with high school docents to develop lessons and lead activities on local history with multiracial connections. The Boyle Heights neighborhood surrounding the Breed Street Shul has a rich history of cultural and racial diversity, a history vital to resident’s investment and education in the spaces in which they live, work, learn and celebrate. In an effort to foster this pride of place, community collaboration and self-dignity, History in a Box aims to engage 3rd & 4th grade students from the seven elementary schools and two private schools that sit within the USC Health Sciences community.
Chasing Paper: Financial Success for a Lifetime: $17,575
Community Partner: UPC USC Family of Schools (Victor Sanchez)
University Partner: USC Credit Union (Tracy Vasilia)
This financial literacy program will be taught to select grades of students attending 32nd Street Elementary and Manual Arts High School. This program will help students build a foundation of financial knowledge at an early age. Each class will be taught by a team of two trained USC Students and professional staff from the USC Credit Union, approximately 400 students will receive financial literacy education through this program.
Education Consortium of Central Los Angeles: $25,527
Community Partner: Education Consortium of Central L.A. (Jacqueline Hamilton)
University Partner: RSOE (Lawrence Picus)
The Education Consortium of Central Los Angeles (ECCLA) exists to connect K through 12 teachers with the best of local museums, college and community resources. ECCLA’s service area includes 120 charter, LAUSD and parochial schools located in the area roughly bounded by Olympic, Slauson, Crenshaw and Alameda Boulevards. ECCLA has a well-developed School Liaison program to facilitate these connections and helps to deliver high-quality curriculum materials to schools to improve student literacy and math skills. ECCLA has holds a variety of annual essay contests, in which all students receive written feedback, and hosts an annual ceremony to recognize excellent teachers and award several cash prizes to the winners of the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.
Expanding STARs Program: $26,600
Community Partner: Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School (Maria Torres Flores)
University Partner: University of Southern California – School of Pharmacy (Roberta Diaz Brinton)
The USC Science, Technology and Research (STAR) Program is a collaborative science education venture between the University of Southern California and Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School. Students working with USC researchers will have the opportunity to collect and analyze data as well as to prepare their research presentation. The program will provide mentorship training for college-bound STAR II students in order to mentor incoming STAR II students. Students will also participate in seminar presentations, field trips, workshops, recieve college admissions counseling, and participate in school health and science fairs.
HSC Health and Science Expo (Science Fair): $17,925
Community Partner: Griffin Street Elementary School (Ricardo Romero)
University Partner: USC HSC Community Partnerships (Alan Sanchez)
The USC Health and Science Expo (Science Fair) is an annual, unique, interactive project that introduces local students in the three elementary USC Family of Schools at HSC to science and health related principles, curriculum, and potential careers. The fair, to be held in April of 2014, will utilize HSC resources, including graduate students, to enhance the science and health curriculum of 5th grade students attending the three local elementary schools.
I Hablo U: $23,000
Community Partner: I Hablo U (Shawn Simons)
University Partner: University Communications (Eddie North-Hager)
I HABLO U was developed out of a desire among residents in the University Park community to connect monolingual Spanish- and English-speakers to create an engaged neighborhood. This program is an English as a Second Language (ESL) class and a Spanish as a Second Language (SSL) class taught in tandem with each student receiving a community member mentor that speaks the other language. This study buddy helps each student achieve higher aptitude in class, encourages partnership and communication between neighbors, and promotes crosscultural education.
Jumpstart for Young Children: $15,000
Community Partner: Hoover Intergenerational Care, Inc. (Wilma Smith Kiel)
University Partner: Jumpstart at USC (Patrick Bailey)
Jumpstart’s mission is to ensure that every child enters kindergarten prepared to succeed. In addition to Jumpstart’s in-depth, in-classroom program, Jumpstart provides books and resources to parents and caregivers. Jumpstart Corps members also provide families with tips for how to incorporate learning and literacy into everyday life.
Med-COR (Medical Counseling, Organizing, and Recruiting): $32,700
Community Partner: Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School (Millicent Dypiangco)
University Partner: Keck School of Medicine, USC (Frances Zepeda)
Med-COR seeks to increase the pool of high school students who are competitively eligible for admission to the most prestigious University programs. It is designed to motivate, academically prepare, and commit them to health careers. Students undertake a 6-week intense summer healthcare career exposure at Keck Hospital and the Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center. Following this, throughout the school year Med-COR then focuses on college preparation and career exposure. Undergraduate students provide academic assistance in the areas of Math, Science, and English. In addition, Med-COR student participants develop SAT Skills through various workshops.
Mission Science 2013 roots to STEM: $35,388
Community Partner: HSC USC Family of Schools (Pedro Preciado)
University Partner: USC Viterbi School of Engineering (Larry Lim)
USC Mission Science provides our neighborhood elementary and middle school students the opportunity to learn science, engineering, and technology. Student learn through an informal, inquiry basis by providing true hands-on projects, exhibits, simple experiments, machinery to take apart, and a workshop in which to work. STEM Themed-Based Projects and activities are provided after school.
Peace Camp/Peace Kids/Youth Leadership: $7,814
Community Partner: The Peace Center of United University Church (Susan Stouffer)
University Partner: El Centro Chicano (William Vela)
Peace Camp/Peace Kids/Youth Leadership programs offer year-round opportunities for children, youth, and parents in the neighborhoods around USC to become leaders in our community and world. The activities are a fun method through which the children and youth learn about the curriculum topic. Activities can include art, crafts, music, drama, film, gardening, cooking, etc. During Peace Electives – a number of specific classes such as recycled art, drawing and painting for peace, mandalas, gardening, etc. are offered with the children/youth choosing the elective in which they are most interested.
Reading Makes A Difference: $23,750
Community Partner: The Jester & Pharley Phund (Barbara Saltzman)
University Partner: HSC Community Outreach (Alan Sanchez)
The Reading Makes A Difference program ignites an interest in reading, bolsters community engagement and can raise test scores because of its personal impact on elementary students. Their reading generates donation of “The Jester” book & doll to local hospitals in the name of the school and sponsor. A Recognition Assembly caps the program five weeks after its start, when all reading logs have been tallied. The top readers at every grade level are called up for recognition. Each receives a special Jester Jingle certificate, special Jester & Pharley bookmark and Jester & Pharley button. In addition, the teacher of each top-reading classroom at every grade level is called up to receive a special Jester Jingle certificate, bookmark and button.
SFYTA: $34,000
Community Partner: Living Advantage, Inc. (Pamela Clay)
University Partner: Joint Educational Project (Jacqueline Whitley)
The SFYTA program provides a range of services and support to youth in foster care who are about to age out of the system. Living Advantage, in partnership with the USC Joint Educational Project, faculty in the USC Department of Psychology, and Foshay Learning Center, will provide targeted support to foster youth at Foshay that will prepare them for independent living, higher education, and employment. SFYTA participants will be paired with USC students to provide mentoring and tutoring. Living Advantage case managers will conduct assessments to determine the areas in which students need additional support (e.g., academic, psychological, job training, etc.); the program will also help gather and maintain youth’s vital life documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, immunization records, and photo identification.
Student Success Program: $20,105
Community Partner: Legacy LA Youth Development Corporation (Maria Lou Calanche)
University Partner: School of Social Work (Rosemary Alamo)
Legacy LA’s Student Success Program addresses the over 60% high school drop out rate in the Ramona Gardens Community. In partnership with USC School of Social Work, Legacy will connect 200 high school students to academic support services and provide educational advocacy training to their parents. USC School of Social Work MSW student interns placed at Legacy LA are integral to the success of the program. The USC student interns provide direct practice and comprehensive therapeutic services to youth participating in the program. USC MSW interns meet weekly with students, provide group and individual therapeutic support, link students to USC HSC health services as needed, conduct home visits in the community, and develop and implement life skills workshops for participating students.
USC Community Computing Program: $39,061
Community Partner: UPC USC Family of Schools (Guadalupe Lopez)
University Partner: USC Civic Engagement (Kim Thomas-Barrios)
The USC Community Computing Program provides low-to-no cost training in the fundamentals of computer use and supplies graduates of its programs with computers to take home for use by their families. By providing both computer training and actual computers to program participants, USC can better enhance the economic opportunities of participants as they will be more likely to make full use of their new skills in their studies, their jobs, their children’s academic needs, and in their community involvement endeavors.
USC Community Social Work Interns: $56,405
Community Partner: USC Family of Schools UPC and HSC (Bruce Onodera)
University Partner: USC Civic Engagement (Kim Thomas-Barrios)
In this partnership between USC School of Social Work, USC Civic Engagement, and the USC Family of Schools, MSW interns will become integral members of the counseling teams that serve students and families in the community and at the USC Family of Schools. Once the interns are chosen from the USC School of Social Work’s graduate MSW program, they will work part-time during the 2012-2013 school year with one of ten University Park Campus Family of School as well as some of our USC programs, like the Neighborhood Academic Initiative and School for Early Childhood Education.
USC Family of School Facilitators 2013-14: $74,356
Community Partners: USC Family of Schools UPC and HSC (Lisa Beebe)
University Partner: USC Civic Engagement (Kim Thomas-Barrios)
The USC Family of Schools Facilitator grant aims to streamline the delivery of grant funded program activities at USC Family of Schools. The program supports 13 part-time facilitators for schools located at the Health Sciences and University Park campuses who will ensure that programs reach the maximum number of students and facilities are secured.
USC Family of Schools Concurrent Enrollment Initiative: $57,143
Community Partners: Foshay High School, LA Trade Tech College (Rita Weingourt)
University Partner: USC Civic Engagement (Theda Douglas)
The USC Family of Schools Concurrent enrollment Initiative is a health-career-path program designed to provide short-term certificates to high school students in the 11th and 12th grade interested in Certified Nursing Aid (CNA) and Home Health Aide (HHA) occupations, becoming job-ready. USC Family of School Concurrent Enrollment Initiative students will attend 13 weekends of class time and for the Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) portion it will consist of 60 hours for theory and 120 clinical hours in the hospital. The Home Health Aide (HHA) portion of the training will be 30 hours theory and 30 hours for clinical. These hours satisfy the state requirements for the State of California for CNA/HHA licensing.
USC Kinder2College Program: $45,173
Community Partner: UPC USC Family of Schools (Brenda Grady)
University Partner: USC Civic Engagement (Kim Thomas-Barrios)
This program seeks to tutor 100 Kinder males in the USC Family of Schools to enhance their reading skills as designated by their classroom teacher. This will be a program that intimately involves teacher practice, parent education on the campus of USC to develop a network of support to deter failure. Young boys will be selected from seven of our USC Family of Schools at the end of Kindergarten and fostered through three years of a USC implemented program, Readers Plus, mentored and applied by trained USC students, all of whom will be male and trained in the ways that males learn best.
USC Neighborhood Debate Alliance: $33,757
Community Partners: Bravo, Foshay, Manual Arts, New Designs, 32nd Street/USC (Victor Sanchez)
University Partner: USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (Gordon Stables)
USC Neighborhood Debate Alliance throughout the year provides extracurricular debate training and competitions for students in the UNO service area with the intent of increasing students’ academic performance and skills in critical thinking, public speaking, and advocacy. USC hosts a summer debate workshop each August for students participating in the USC-NDP and LAMDL. The workshop is an intensive 5 day camp environment, wherein students learn about the debate topic for the coming season, work in small group and laboratory environments to practice research, argumentation and public speaking skills.The program also offers 6 professional development and training sessions throughout the course of the academic year for teachers working in partnership with the program.
USC Penny Harvest Project: $47,500
Community Partner: Murchison Elementary School (Margarita Gutierrez)
University Partner: HSC Community Outreach (Alan Sanchez)
Penny Harvest is a youth philanthropy program of the Common Cents Foundation. It has met with broad success with elementary and middle school students across the country. Between 2010 and 2012, students collected almost $1.4 million in pennies, and distributed over 3,432 grants to local, national, and international organizations. The proposed project extends and adapts USC Penny Harvest to several elementary schools near the Health Science Campus and the University Park Campus. The project is designed to enhance service-learning experiences in a programmatic way to elementary school and USC students alike.
USC ReadersPLUS: $81,615
Community Partner: USC Family of Schools (Bruce Onodera)
University Partner: Joint Educational Project (Tina Koneazny)
USC ReadersPLUS has placed 80-100 USC students in neighborhood schools as academic tutors during the school day and in after school programming since 1997 beginning with the original five Family of Schools. This year’s grant includes two expansion schools. The program will place approximately 100 elementary literacy readers and math mentors in seven of our Family of Schools (32nd, Foshay, Norwood, Vermont, Weemes, John Mack and Alexander Science Center), each working with between two and five students for at least eight hours per week for most of the 30 weeks of the USC academic year.
USC Street Law: $8,000
Community Partner: New Designs Charter School (Stephen Gyesaw)
University Partner: USC Gould School of Law, Office of Public Service (Nooshin Valizadeh)
Street Law, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that provides practical, participatory education that encompasses law, democracy, and human rights. The curriculum of Street Law provides information, practical advice and competency-building activities. Legal lessons taught this year include: Torts, Contracts and Alternatives to Juvenile Criminal Justice. In addition to the three visits from law students, the middle/high school participants visited USC Gould School of Law for Mentor Day.
Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative: $9,200
Community Partner: NFTE Greater Los Angeles (Estelle Reyes)
University Partner: Marshall/Greif Center (Bill Crookston)
The USC Greif Center has partnered with The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship to provide entrepreneurship education at USC Family School Foshay Learning Center. The Greif Center will engage USC students in community service efforts to educate youth in entrepreneurship. There will be 50 high school students enrolled in the entrepreneurship course at Foshay in the 2013-2014 school year. Graduate students will also coach high school students on the development of their business plan, and faculty will provide guidance and expertise as this newly launched program takes form at Foshay.
Health and Sports programs
A Fotonovela on Breast Cancer: $32,300
Community Partner: T.H.E. Clinic, Inc. (Tracy Robinson)
University Partner: Pharmacy (Mel Baron)
This project will develop an effective health communication tool to increase knowledge of breast cancer prevention and treatment among families in the neighborhoods surrounding the University Park Campus and the Health Sciences Campus of USC. The target population will be reached through the distribution of the breast cancer fotonovela throughout safety net clinics, local pharmacies, and through trained promotoras from the community. We will recruit promotoras through our community partner, T.H.E. Clinic, Inc. The promotoras will attend dozens of events and meetings in the community and will distribute the fotonovela to thousands of people. We also expect that the fotonovela will be passed along from one person to another, increasing its impact within the community.
After School Sports Connection (HSC): $20,245
Community Partner: HSC USC Family of Schools (Ricardo Romero)
University Partner: University of Southern California Recreational Sports (Martha Amador)
Community Partner: HSC USC Family of Schools (Ricardo Romero) University Partner: University of Southern California Recreational Sports (Martha Amador) Website: https://sait.usc.edu/Recsports/programs/youth-sports/assc-page After School Sports Connection provides quality after schools sports programs with instruction in tennis, soccer, basketball, volleyball and marital arts. These programs have been established at the University Park Campus. We will be expanding to the Health Science Campus with different sport activities that will benefit kids within the local community of East Los Angeles.
Community Women’s Conference: $12,000
Community Partner: Proyecto Pastoral (Marlene Stang)
University Partner: HSC Community Outreach (Sevanne Sarkis)
Website: http://www.proyectopastoral.org/program_cem.php
For the past 15 years Proyecto Pastoral has hosted the only community-based Women’s Conference in Boyle Heights. More than just a day of workshops, Proyecto Pastoral’s Women’s Conference links 400 participants to critical health and wellness resources. This year, we will pilot a similar men’s conference with similar health workshops, community resources and screenings for adult men and young men in the community. 10-15 follow up workshops will be hosted to allow participants to explore important topics more deeply and to connect with local resources for ongoing support.
Community Youth Health Education & Action Leader (H.E.A.L.): $45,000
Community Partner: Proyecto Jardin, A Project of Community Partners (Irene Pena)
University Partner: USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center-J. Diamond Cancer Resource Library (Zul Surani)
The Community Youth Health Education and Action Leaders (HEAL) AgriCorps creates a leadership pipeline that builds organizational and community capacity to transform Boyle Heights’ food environment through policy and systems change that supports development of a sustainable community food system. The program will recruit and enroll 10 youth and one Peer Youth Crew supervisor to paricipate in the 12-week Community Youth HEAL AgriCorps Institute. Program participants will then conduct a Community Spring Festival to celebrate the harvest of fresh produce and recognize the achievements of Community Youth HEAL graduates who complete the Good Food Changemaker Apprentice Program.
FUENTE Initiative: $7,725
Community Partner: HSC USC Family of Schools (Margarita Gutierrez)
University Partner: USC School of Pharmacy (Michael Wincor)
This project uses the educational resources of the University’s School of Pharmacy to coordinate pharmacists and student pharmacists to provide poison prevention education, appropriate drug use and self-management education and health screenings. The focus of the FUENTE Initiative is: 1) poison prevention and medication education for children and adults, 2) screening and health education information to improve adult awareness of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, and 3) health awareness and preventive health behavior education for both adolescents and adults through health information fairs. Student pharmacists and pharmacists deliver the programs at the East Los Angeles Occupational Center and East Los Angeles Skills Center and at least 3 elementary schools (Murchison, Sheridan and Vermont Avenue Elementary) and 1 pharmacy where students operate screenings weekly.
Garden Gateway Nutrition Education Project: $26,159
Community Partner: Community Services Unlimited (Neelam Sharma)
University Partner: History Dept (Josh Goldstein)
The Garden Gateway nutrition education project improves the health of children and adults by teaching gardening and healthy cooking skills that increase their ability to access and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. The UNO grant will fund two series of gardening and healthy cooking workshops. One for community residents of all ages, and the other for preschoolers.
HSC Community Health and Wellness Fairs – 2013: $17,245
Community Partner: Griffin Street Elementary (Ricardo Romero)
University Partner: HSC Community Outreach (Alan Sanchez)
Website: https://communities.usc.edu/health-sciences-fair/
Annual collaborative community health fair provides health services to the local community, including health screenings, flu shots, dental screenings, mobile units, and the disbursement of other relevant health education material. The goal of the HSC Community Health and Wellness Fairs – 2013 (Health Fairs) is to continue to address these issues and work toward meeting community needs by hosting two health fairs targeting the community of Boyle Heights to the south of the Health Sciences Campus, and the community of Lincoln Heights to the north of the campus. Partners include USC faculty, staff, students, HSC partners schools, health care providers, community-based organizations, local elected officials, White Memorial Medical Center, Weingart YMCA and the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles.
KIDS South LA Sports Club: $36,100
Community Partner: Kids In Sports (Tony Giarla)
University Partner: USC TRiO Programs (Parker Jenkins)
KIDS’ South L.A. Sports Club provides high quality, affordable, evening and weekend programs that are specifically designed to maximize community impact while improving community safety and the quality of life for neighborhood children and their families. The South LA Sports Club will provide new seasons of basketball and baseball, two seasons of soccer, a volleyball league and multiple learn to swim sessions over the course of the 2013-2014 grant cycle to 2,000 area youth, including over 1,000 participants in our Girls In Recreation, Leadership & Sports (GIRLS) Program.
ThinkFirst LA County: $6,102
Community Partner: ThinkFirst LA County (Graciela Magana)
University Partner: USC Center for Trauma, Violence and Injury Prevention (Kelly Katzberg)
ThinkFirst LA County is a newly established chapter of ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation. Originally developed by neurosurgeons, the mission of the organization is to prevent brain, spinal cord and other traumatic injuries through education, research and advocacy. The program consists of a one hour session in an assembly setting during which a video is shown and a short lecture is given by a trained nurse educator or physician. During the presentation, we use hands-on props such as a model spine, skull and lifelike brain. In addition to this traditional model, a VIP (Voices for Injury Prevention) speaker, who has been specifically trained by the program, gives a short, personal presentation and engages the students in a frank discussion about their experience.
Trojan Kids Camp: $31,350
Community Partners: USC Family of Schools UPC and Kids in Sports (Tony Giarla)
University Partner: USC Recreational Sports (Arvin Varma)
The mission of Trojan Kids Camp is to provide a healthy and safe lifestyle using quality sports and educational instruction to local youth between the ages of 9-15. The mission also includes providing information about good nutrition to educate youth about obesity. Educational sessions in subjects such as robotics, math, science and English are also provided to support learning in various subjects.
USC Neighborhood Mobile Dental Van Prevention Program: $30,800
Community Partner: Vermont Elementary (Paul Davidson)
University Partner: Community Oral Health Programs of the Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC (Carlos Sanchez and Linda Brookman)
The USC Neighborhood Mobile Dental Van Prevention Program is the only school based mobile dental sealant and prevention program in the City of Los Angeles focusing on providing preventive dental care and education to the local community. The USC NMDVPP’s long-term goal is to reduce dental caries through preventive care among elementary school-aged children in our local communities of Los Angeles. Our objective is to improve oral hygiene behaviors and raise awareness in the community regarding the importance of oral health care as it relates to an individual’s systemic health and quality of life.
Public Safety programs
Bicycle Education & Safety for the USC Neighborhoods & Community: $40,000
Community Partner: Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (Eric Bruins)
University Partner: Annenberg /CST (Otto Khera)
The overarching goal is to create a sustainable train-the-trainer bicycle safety education program for the community based on nationally developed standards for such safety and bike education. The program is envisaged as an authentic USC partnership with the community, facilitated and expertly led by the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition and USC cycling experts. In collaboration with the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) and numerous community-based bicycling groups (Community Services Unlimited, East Side Riders, Los Ryderz, USC Bike Commuters), the grant will support two “Bike Rodeo” events for kids and families in the area, and themed bike rides on various weekend days throughout the year.
Institute for Nonviolence in Los Angeles: $50,000
Community Partner: Institute for Nonviolence in Los Angeles (Avis Ridley-Thomas)
University Partner: Neighborhood Academic Initiative (Kim Thomas-Barrios)
Basic adult and peer (student) mediation skills training will be offered to USC Social Work interns, USC faculty and staff, USC Family of Schools personnel and interested community members. Skills will be applied to establish peer mediation programs or appropriate mechanisms to increase academic performance and provide life skills to effectively handle everyday challenges at school and in every area of life.
Parent Park Project: $14,000
Community Partners: Redeemer Community Partnership – West Adams Neighborhood Association (Joey Viera)
University Partner: USC DPS (Sabrina Brown)
The Parent Park Project will make safety improvements at Loren Miller Park. We have acquired the support of LAPD, and our group will create positive programs in the residential neighborhood park. This investment in the safety improvements will help the Adams corridor blossom and bring community members together to address issues of mutual interest.
Safe Streets-CHLA Injury Prevention Progra: $49,500
Community Partner: Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (Rita Burke)
University Partner: Keck School of Medicine of USC Pediatrics (Jeff Upperman)
In order to help decrease pediatric pedestrian injury in the community surrounding the University Park and Health Sciences campuses, an educational campaign targeted to elementary, junior high and high school students about pedestrian and motor-vehicle related safety will be developed. USC students will be trained and then dispatched to the schools to provide age- and culturally- appropriate educational material. The culmination of the program will be a “Safe Streets” community fair hosted at both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses that will engage students, parents, teachers and other community members about pediatric pedestrian safety.
USC Kid Watch: $63,883
Community Partner: UPC USC Family of Schools (Brenda Cortez)
University Partner: USC Civic Engagement (Kim Thomas-Barrios)
Since 1996, over 1253 USC Kid Watch community members watch over approximately 9000 children from the USC Family of Schools as they walk to and from school. The members are committed to our University Park neighborhood, community empowerment, and emergency preparedness. Kid Watch is a partnership between the Los Angeles Police Department-Southwest Division, the Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department, USC Department of Public Safety, USC Civic Engagement and the USC Family of Schools at UPC.