Arts
After ‘Cool: $9,800
University Partner: School of Dramatic Arts, Brent Blair
Community Partner: 24th Street Theatre, Jay McAdams
Website: https://www.24thstreet.org/after-cool
After ‘Cool addresses the lack of arts education opportunities for K-12 students in 24th Street Theatre’s immediate North University Park/Pico-Union neighborhood and the educational and social needs of the low-income community’s youth, engaging 60 neighborhood 2nd-8th grade youth in weekly, after-school instruction and activities that develop acting and creative skills, including improvisation, character and story development.
Cochlear Implant (CI) Music Hour Collaboration: $2,850
University Partner: Keck School of Medicine – Bionic Ear Lab, Raymond Goldsworthy
Community Partner: Neighborhood Music School, Chrysa Kovach
Website: https://sites.usc.edu/bionicearlab/
The Cochlear Implant (CI) Music Hour Collaboration is a weekly music appreciation session based out of the Bionic Ear Lab at USC Keck School of Medicine that involves researchers in music, audiology, and medicine. Through Zoom meetings, a group of domestic and international CI users, faculty, and students meet to better understand the challenges of music appreciation amongst CI users and to foster social and musical engagement amongst all participants.
Kaufman Connections (KC): $8,900
University Partner: Kaufman School of Dance, Tiffany Bong
Community Partner: 32nd Street/LAUSD USC Visual & Performing Arts, Nelly Cristales
Website: https://kaufman.usc.edu/collaborations/kaufman-connections/
Kaufman Connections (KC) is a 24-week, hip-hop-oriented program that introduces students to choreographic processes and the creative field of dance, strengthens important social-emotional learning and cognitive skills, and increases teacher aptitude for integrating dance into the curriculum. KC’s USC student Teaching Assistants receive first-hand community leadership and engagement experience.
Leadership Academy: $9,150
University Partner: School of Dramatic Arts, Brent Blair
Community Partner: 24th Street Theatre, Jay McAdams
Website: https://www.24thstreet.org/teen-leadership-academy
The Leadership Academy addresses the need for extracurricular programs supporting youth pathways to college and high-paying jobs and careers in 24th Street’s low-income neighborhood with low college attainment. By annually engaging 20 high school students in 60 hours of program service over 30 weeks using theatre arts to support academic achievement, students can build and develop confidence, communication, interpersonal and presentation skills, personal goals, and encourage civic engagement.
Music Inspiring Community: $2,450
University Partner: Thornton School of Music, Neal Desby
Community Partner: 32nd Street/LAUSD USC Visual & Performing Arts, Kerry Kehrley
Music Inspiring Community is a USC student-run effort to bring the proven benefits of music education to neighborhood elementary students. These multi-disciplinary USC students share their personal love of music and the inspiration that accompanies music education with local LAUSD schools. Studies show regular participation in music increases creativity and life skills critical to later life success.
USC Thornton Community Engagement Programs: $30,550
University Partner: Thornton School of Music
Community Partner: Vermont Avenue Elementary School, Elsa Campos
Website: https://music.usc.edu/usc-thornton-outreach-allows-students-the-chance-to-give-back/
The USC Thornton Community Engagement Programs (TCEP) offer PreK-12 students and their families the benefits of music learning and engagement through their low/no-cost music-learning opportunities to students who live predominantly in the critically under-resourced communities that surround USC’s two campuses.
Youth Artists as Civic Leaders: $10,850
University Partner: University Relations – CLGP, David Galaviz
Community Partner: LA Commons, Karen Mack
Website: www.lacommons.org
Youth Artists as Civic Leaders increases the civic leadership capacity of youth around the University Park Campus by training participants to expand their knowledge of local community issues as they relate to environmental sustainability and climate change while engaging fellow community members in the creation of a major public artwork.
Academic Support
Adventures Ahead: $15,650
University Partner: Sol Price School of Public Policy, Anna Parks
Community Partner: Redeemer Community Partnership, Lauren Tigrett
Website: www.redeemercp.org/education
Adventures Ahead is an after-school tutoring program with the mission to improve education outcomes for elementary students in the University Park neighborhood. Adventures Ahead offers an individualized reading curriculum, homework help, and academic enrichment to 30 students during the school year and an all-day academically rigorous summer program that incorporates math, science, art, and recreation.
Ednovate and Problem-Based Learning: $9,700
University Partner: Rossier School of Education, Eugenia Mora-Flores
Community Partner: Ednovate, Victor Campos
Website: www.ednovate.org
The collaboration between Ednovate Schools and the USC Rossier School of Education (RSOE) understands how to position students as leaders by implementing a social impact curriculum within a school context that prioritizes differentiated instruction through the use of technology, community, and building resilience and optimism as a means to enhance community and life outcomes of low-income, minority students.
i.am College Track: $24,000
Community Partner: College Track, Jesus Prado
Website: https://www.iamangelfoundation.org/programs/i-am-college-track/
College Track admits classes of 60-75 9th-grade students annually, all first-generation and/or from economically marginalized households, and all are highly motivated to earn a college degree. The program offers academic workshops, wellness activities, college research, and financial aid to help students build academic competency and individual resilience.
Los Angeles Urban League Education Initiatives: $5,000
Community Partner: Los Angeles Urban League, Michael Lawson
Website: https://laul.org/
The Los Angeles Urban League enrolls 8-12th grade students in its Project Ready program that offers workshops for college, career exposure, entrepreneurship skill building, financial education, mentorship, and math readiness in the curriculum. In partnership with Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, they offer a free four-week summer business program that aims to activate students’ entrepreneurial mindset while teaching the fundamentals of starting a new business.
Parent Engagement and College Readiness: $14,000
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences – PERE & CSII, Rhonda Ortiz
Community Partner: Building Skills Partnership, Luis Sandoval
Website: https://www.buildingskills.org
The Building Skills Partnership (BSP) Parent Engagement and College Access program assists first-generation students in the financial aid application process, educates parents on the higher education process and the resources available to them and their students, and provides opportunities that promote higher education to both parents and students.
PressFriends at USC: $11,350
University Partner: Office of the Provost, Debora Chan-Southwell
Community Partner: PressFriends Inc., Shirley Jung
Website: facebook.com/uscpf
Founded by kids for kids in 2008, USC PressFriends is a free all-volunteer youth-led mentoring program for school newspaper writing at Title I elementary schools. By empowering children to become socially responsible leaders and mentors, they can create compassion and understanding amongst youth from diverse backgrounds to strengthen their communities.
PUENTE’s College and Career Program: $19,800
University Partner: Keck School of Medicine, Gregory Harlan
Community Partner: PUENTE Learning Center, Michele Wolfe
Website: https://www.puente.org/youth/
The College and Career Program empowers over 540 students from low-income communities of color to succeed in pre-college performance, gain acceptance to college, receive resources to succeed in college, obtain a competitive STEM degree, and contribute their gifts and skills to professional communities.
Reading Makes A Difference: $12,350
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences – JEP, Tina Koneazny
Community Partner: The Jester & Pharley Phund, Barbara Saltzman
Website: https://thejester.org/programs/literacy-and-outreach
The five-week Reading Makes A Difference (RMD) program places tutors in the USC Family of Schools to give teachers, ReadersPlus mentors, and Program Support students valuable tools and activities to make learning to read fun while also providing social-emotional learning (SEL) support. These include inspiring Phund assemblies, a Read-A-Thon to motivate students to help ill kids, lesson ideas, and appealing social-emotional learning activities.
Social Emotional Wellness and Community Care Initiative at Ramona Gardens: $16,800
University Partner: Keck Medicine of USC and USC Health Systems, David Dadiomov, PharmD, BCPP
Community Partner: Boys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside, JR Dzubak
Website: www.wsgvbgc.org
The Boys and Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside serve to actively support the mental and emotional wellness of the youth they serve and provide the support necessary to help families under stress with coping skills to promote the development of children in a safe and nurturing home environment as well as provide hot meals and emergency supplies to those who are experiencing food insecurity and develop resiliency in youth through kindness education.
Thrive in Joy C11 Strength of Character Curriculum: $3,050
University Partner: Sol Price School of Public Policy, Christine Klein
Community Partner: Thrive in Joy, Nick Fagnano Foundation, Mary Fagnano
Website: https://www.thriveinjoy.org/c11
Club Thrive in Joy enables students to recognize their character strengths and to apply those strengths to be of service to others. Students take on leadership roles and work as a team to implement the C11 Strength of Character framework to have a positive impact on the University Park community while building relationships with their peers.
USC A-Lab Architecture Development Program: $9,800
University Partner: School of Architecture, Lauren Matchison
Community Partner: Foshay Learning Center, Malik Jefferson
Website: https://arch.usc.edu/a-lab
The USC A-LAB Architecture Development Program is a rigorous academic experience providing students from Foshay Learning Center with on-campus, immersive instruction in architecture and design. The curriculum imparts hard and soft architectural skills and helps students prepare for college and identify career goals.
USC ReadersPLUS: $64,850
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Tina Koneazny
Community Partner: Lenicia B. Weemes Elementary School, Mercedes Pineda
Website: https://dornsife.usc.edu/joint-educational-project
USC ReadersPlus places reading and math tutors in the USC Family of Schools, inspiring academic confidence and positive learning relationships for children who are at reading or math levels below the classroom average. The after-school curriculum addresses homework help, STEM, literature, and mindfulness in children around University Park.
USC Troy Camp: $29,800
University Partner: Keck Medicine of USC and USC Health Systems, Celso Delgado
Community Partner: 32nd Street/LAUSD USC Visual & Performing Arts, Kerry Kehrley
Website: troycamp.org
Founded in 1948, USC Troy Camp mission has been to provide mentorship and community building (and eventually, a return to the mountain summer camp) for 3rd-12th grade students in the neighborhoods of South Los Angeles. This student-run program has accomplished its mission through free programming, provided by over 200 undergraduate mentors. This program provides resources and guidance to help 3rd-12th grade students achieve their academic and personal goals at the University Park Campus.
Virtual Assisted Living and Education Program (V.A.L.E.™): $17,600
University Partner: Viterbi School of Engineering, Darin Gray
Community Partner: Living Advantage, Inc., Pamela Clay
Website: www.livingadvantageinc.org/the-VALE-program
The Virtual Assisted Living And Education Program (VALE) utilizes innovative technology, collaboration, and media to reduce unemployment, homelessness, and incarceration for LA’s at-risk foster youth population through increased hybrid-virtual/in-person services, eWorkshops, STEM education exposure, and college preparation. VALE helps students graduate on time, provides diverse experiences, addresses individual challenges, and hosts independent living workshops.
Writing 150 and the 826LA Writers’ Rooms: $12,800
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Ben Pack
Community Partner: 826LA, Jaime Balboa
Website: 826la.org
Since opening its doors in 2005, 826LA has served more than 100,000 students in Los Angeles with free programs. 826LA seeks to support students in improving their creative and expository writing skills and to help teachers inspire their students to write. With an innovative curriculum, intensive writing projects, and encouraging mentors, 826LA helps local high school students build their communication and literacy skills with one-on-one support from community volunteers, including USC undergraduates.
Youth Development Programming for Underserved Youth in East Los Angeles: $12,800
University Partner: USC Community and Local Government Partnerships, Dulce Acosta
Community Partner: Variety Boys & Girls Club, Patricia Siqueiros
Website: www.VBGC.org
The Variety Boys and Girls Club (VBGC) provides after-school academic enrichment, with an emphasis on college and career pathways, to approximately 800 K-12 low-income minority students. From assisting their members in high school with scholarships to attend college and financial aid applications to helping former members/young adults during college in seeking post-graduation employment opportunities, VBGC works to illuminate the pathway for their members to achieve college acceptance and a college degree.
Youth Financial Stability and Empowerment Program: $20,000
University Partner: USC Community and Local Government Partnerships, Dulce Acosta
Community Partner: El Centro de Ayuda, Raúl Estrada
Website: https://elcentrodeayuda.org
Created by El Centro de Ayuda (ECDA), the Youth Financial Stability and Empowerment Program offers 10 sessions of financial literacy workshops to Boyle Heights youth between the ages of 11-18 from low-income families and helps them build a savings program and healthy financial practices to build generational wealth for 100 families living below the federal poverty line.
STEM
Building Opportunities with Teachers in Schools (BOTS): $25,150
University Partner: Viterbi School of Engineering, Mary Bonaparte-Saller
Community Partner: LAUSD Local District East, Kearstie Hernandez
Website: https://viterbik12.usc.edu/bots/
The USC BOTS program’s primary goal is to impart widespread computer science (CS) and digital literacy to young students of under-represented and under-resourced backgrounds by providing elementary school teachers from East Los Angeles schools with effective long-term professional development (PD) that empowers them to integrate CS into their classroom through coding and robotics.
Community Applying Systemic STEM Education to Schools (Community ASSETS or C-ASSETS): $36,900
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences – JEP, Dieuwertje Kast
Community Partner: Norwood Street Elementary, Irene Worrell
Website: https://dornsife.usc.edu/joint-educational-project
C-ASSETS students engage in authentic STEM experiences both in-class and after school, reflecting what scientists and engineers do in the real world. Building off the success of the Young Scientist Program (YSP) and adding the Medical STEM Program (MSP), C-ASSETS delivers scientific labs directly to students and their teachers to supplement science instruction, strengthen science literacy, and promote interest in scientific careers in children in the University Park area.
Expanding STARs/EHA Program: $36,750
University Partner: Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Terry Church
Community Partner: Bravo Medical Magnet High School, Luis Lopez
Website: http://pharmweb.usc.edu/USCSTAR/
The Expanding STARs/EHA Program introduces high school students around the Health Sciences Campus to the relationship between engineering and medical sciences, it helps students achieve proficiency in college-level science courses and prepares students to succeed in rigorous post-secondary science and engineering education pathways. Third-year EHA students train for placement in research labs at USC as part of the capstone course.
Medical STEM Education Program: $12,750
University Partner: Keck Medicine of USC and USC Health Systems, Martin Kast
Community Partner: Norwood Elementary, Irene Worrell
The goal of MSEP is to increase the diversity of individuals in medical disciplines by supporting medical education within the K-12 system of underrepresented and disadvantaged youth. The program’s educational objectives are to educate K-5 URM children about medicine, promote healthy lifestyle choices to reduce the risk of diseases and inspire individuals with URM backgrounds to pursue careers in science.
Mission Science: $30,400
University Partner: Viterbi School of Engineering, Jennifer Kolbauer
Community Partner: Gates Elementary, Jennifer Barraza
Website: https://viterbik12.usc.edu/missionscience/
Mission Science (MS) takes place at 7 USC neighborhood elementary schools, providing 3rd-5th-grade students with hands-on, inquiry-based science and engineering activities and experiences. USC undergraduate and graduate students majoring in STEM teach and engage these local youth with STEM activities with the support and guidance of a teacher liaison.
Project Scientist STEAM Club: $28,000
University Partner: Keck Medicine of USC and USC Health Systems, Ite Offringa
Community Partner: Project Scientist, Nick Boerum
Website: https://projectscientist.org/stem-club
Project Scientist provides a virtual after-school STEM Club to elementary school girls in the USC Family of Schools, giving under-resourced girls access to high-quality, standards-aligned, teacher-guided STEM experiences to broaden their horizons, engage them in active learning via home-delivered hands-on activities, and spark a lifelong love for STEM. Members of the Graduate Women in Science at USC provide girls with role models in STEM fields. This exposure is key to dismantling gender stereotypes in STEM.
Science in Visual Narratives: An Elementary School STEAM Program (KSOM): $7,650
University Partner: Keck Medicine of USC and USC Health Systems, Tea Jashashvili
Community Partner: Malabar Elementary School, Jessica Alvarez
Website: https://malabar.schoolloop.com/
The Science in Visual Narratives: An Elementary School STEAM Program expands students’ knowledge of biology and comprehensive integration of imaginary/artistic and technological education in the early stages of their scientific learning by creating cartoon animations that convey their experiences with these scientific concepts.
SCience Outreach: $4,800
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Susumu Takahashi
Community Partner: 32nd Street/LAUSD USC Visual & Performing Arts, Nelly Cristales
Website: http://uscscienceoutreach.org
USC Science Outreach (SCout) introduces scientific curiosity to University Park elementary school students through interactive science experiments and concepts before their formal science curriculum begins in their schools. Lessons are coupled with hands-on experiments, building upon the students’ basic knowledge of science while encouraging them to further practice the skills for scientific inquiry.
USC Med-COR (Medical Counseling, Organizing and Recruiting): $33,200
University Partner: Keck School of Medicine, Joyce Richey
Community Partner: Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School, Millicent Dypiangco
Website: https://medcor.usc.edu/
The USC Medical Counseling, Organizing, and Recruiting program (Med-COR) increases the pool of local high school BIPOC students committed to the pursuit of health professional careers and supports students from diverse backgrounds in becoming academically competitive for admission to colleges and universities nationwide by offering comprehensive curricular and co-curricular training.
Using STEAM/VR-AR to Alter History: Integrating History, Science, Math and Art (RSOE): $14,100
University Partner: Rossier School of Education, Angela Hasan
Community Partner: Foshay Learning Center, Tracy Murray
Website:
Through a collaborative effort between USC Rossier and Western Ave T.E.C.H Magnet School, they created the Using STEAM to Alter History: Integrating History, Science, Math, and Art Program to explore events in history and present outcomes that are different from the historical record using VR/AR technologies. This program addresses the social-emotional support needed for students in underserved schools and allows students to acquire skills in VR/AR concepts and tools, scientific research processes, and mathematics reasoning and problem-solving.
Young Researchers Program: $7,950
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Naomi Levine
Community Partner: Manual Arts High School, Natalie Beck
Website: https://www.youngresearchers.usc.edu/
The Young Researchers Program (YRP) is a 6-week summer program that provides under-represented, low-income high school students from neighboring USC communities exposure to university-level scientific research. High school students are mentored 1-on-1 by USC Ph.D. students who provide the support and skills needed to conduct a successful research project. Starting with experimental design and data collection, their work culminates in a poster symposium.
Health and Wellness
Boyle Heights Beat: Voices/Voces: $15,750
University Partner: Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism, Stacy Scholder
Community Partner: Boyle Heights Beat, Christine Kelley
Website: https://boyleheightsbeat.com/
A community journalism and youth development training program, Boyle Heights Beat (BHB) builds capacity and leadership for youth storytellers, strengthens research, betters writing and analytical skills, and prepares youth for higher education as well as career training. The produced content fills a news vacuum that has historically isolated residents from each other and policymakers. By highlighting stories and issues in this hard-to-reach neighborhood, BHB helps create a healthier civic and community culture in one of the most marginalized areas of Boyle Heights.
Building Healthy Habits at Home: $24,000
University Partner: Keck Medicine of USC and USC Health Systems, Greg Harlan
Community Partner: Common Threads, Stephanie Folkens
Website:
With help from the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, Common Threads designs and implements family engagement programs that offer hands-on culinary and nutrition lessons to caregivers of LAUSD students. These 30-60 minute Caregiver Workshops promote healthy eating habits at home that both celebrate family traditions and fit within financial means to ensure that preK-8th grade students are supported in making healthy choices.
Early Intervention & Community Wellness/USC Internship Program: $16,000
University Partner: Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, Ruth Supranovich
Community Partner: Wellnest, Jenna Haelflinger-Kurtz
Website: http://bit.ly/EICWprogram
The Wellnest/USC partnership’s mission is to improve the mental health and nutrition outcomes for 500 children, their families, and caregivers living in the University Park area of South Los Angeles. The Wellnest’s Early Intervention & Community Wellness (EICW) program helps address and treat early signs of mental and emotional illness in vulnerable children to improve their long-term chances of leading healthy lives.
Expanding the Network of Grief Support for Children in the USC Neighborhood: $24,350
University Partner: Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, Rosemary Alamo
Community Partner: OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center, Lauren Schneider, LCSW
Website: www.ourhouse-grief.org/school-based-groups
The OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center School Program provides free grief support groups for bereaved elementary, middle, and high school students who have experienced the death of a family member or close friend within the past 2-36 months. During the school day, groups of 8-12 students are led by one clinically supervised OUR HOUSE volunteer to follow a trauma-informed and research-based curriculum to achieve high-impact results within ten weeks to guarantee quality control across more than 60 groups.
Family Stability in El Sereno and Lincoln Heights: $20,000
Community Partner: Barrio Action Youth & Family Center, Tammy Membreño
Website: https://barrioaction.org
Barrio Action was established to empower young people to succeed both academically and socially, working with people of all ages, with a special emphasis on helping high-risk and at-risk youth, young adults, and their families. The staff of Barrio Action works in partnership with youth and their families, seeking to increase the youth’s understanding of the life choices available to them.
The Salud Pa Ti (Health for You) Wellness Project at Plaza de la Raza: $12,000
University Partner: School of Dramatic Arts, Giselle Petzinger
Community Partner: Plaza de la Raza, Tomas Benitez
Website: www.plazadelaraza.org
A partnership between USC SDA and Lincoln Heights, the Salud Pa’ Ti (Health for You) Youth Theatre Project creates an opportunity for 45-50 low-income Latinx teens to develop their academic and creative skills to reflect and present their ideas and expressions about health issues impacting their lives, their families, and community today, including post-COVID recovery, suicide, bullying, peer pressure, the impact of social media, hate crimes, and issues related to gender identity.
USC Dental Screening Initiative for Foster Children: $19,100
University Partner: Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, Thanh Tam Ton
Community Partner: The Violence Intervention Program, Astrid Heger
Website: https://violenceinterventionprogram.org
The USC Dental Screening Initiative for Foster Children establishes a dental home for foster children in the Violence Intervention Program (VIP). A dental team of assistants, pediatric dentists, dental students, dental assisting students, and social work interns provide dental health services in-person and virtually such as oral health screenings, dietary counseling, oral health education, and emotional support to the foster children and their caregivers in the neighborhoods surrounding the Health Science Campus.
USC Neighborhood Mobile Dental Van Prevention Program: $21,200
University Partner: Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, Carlos Sanchez
Community Partner: St. Agnes Parish School, Will Summer
Website: https://dentistry.usc.edu/community/mobile-dental-clinics/
The USC Neighborhood Mobile Dental Van Prevention Program (NMDVPP) is the only school-based mobile provider for preventive oral health care and education in Los Angeles. This program improves the quality of TK-12 oral health education and the quality of life for children and their families by providing the children in need with access to free preventive oral health care and education. As a leader in providing school-based oral health preventive services, the NMDVPP expects to successfully screen and treat each consented child in the USC Partner schools that require oral health care services, as well as to promote oral health education at various community outreach events.
USC PT Fit Families: $11,000
University Partner: Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, Cheryl Resnik
Community Partner: Boys & Girls Clubs of West San Gabriel Valley & Eastside, Kurtis Sundblom
Website: https://www.facebook.com/uscfitfamilies
The USC Fit Families program promotes positive long-term lifestyle and behavioral changes in children to prevent problems associated with obesity and physical inactivity. Rotated weekly between Bravo High School, the Ramona Gardens Boys and Girls Club, and 1 in south LA, underserved children, and their families will go through face-to-face fitness sessions and educational content created by USC Physical Therapy students.
Community Safety
USC Kid Watch Program: $27,700
University Partner: University Relations – Educational Partnerships, Kim Thomas-Barrios
Community Partner: Norwood Elementary Schools, Lilia Garcia
Since 1996, USC Kid Watch has mobilized volunteers to provide safe passage for thousands of neighborhood children as they walk to and from the USC Family of Schools. By mobilizing residents and other stakeholders to “observe and report,” it reduces crime and violence through community policing, thereby improving public safety in the University Park area.
Violence Prevention/Social-Emotional Learning (The Peace Project): $17,300
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Susan Harris
Community Partner: Sola Community Peace Center, Susan Stouffer
Website: www.solacommunitypeacecenter.org
This in-school program seeks to develop vital peacemaking and social-emotional skills (VP/SEL) in local kids and families around the University Park Campus. The youth in the programs learn through experiential and fun learning activities such as role play, crafts, and small group activities, and learn the practices of gratitude and positivity.
Economic and Workforce Development
Food Security
Farm Fresh LA: $18,000
University Partner: Keck School of Medicine, Kayla de la Haye
Community Partner: Los Angeles Food Policy Council, Alba Velasquez
Farm Fresh LA connects urban growers to corner stores, enabling CalFresh shoppers to purchase locally-grown produce. The program leverages LA Food Policy Council’s relationships with multigenerational corner store owners of color, sourcing California-grown produce and offering it directly within communities most affected by food apartheid.
GROW South Central: Garden Gateway & South Central Growers and Harvesters Network: $29,600
University Partner: Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism, Francois Bar
Community Partner: Community Services Unlimited, Heather Fenney
Website: https://csuinc.org/programs/grow/
The South Central Growers and Harvesters Network is a program that has emerged from the success of CSU’s Garden Gateway and Tree Of Life programs. These two programs deepen and broaden CSU’s work to create a vibrant and thriving local food system by creating economic opportunities for South LA residents and expanding the availability of very locally grown food. The network is made up of local urban growers who grow the bounty, and harvesters who are trained to pick and deliver the produce. The program provides training and mentorship, supporting urban production and developing functional agriculture microenterprises, increasing economic security and enhancing access to quality produce.
Economic and Workforce Development
Workforce Development
Co-operatives: A Pathway to Sustainable Economies and Community Empowerment (Project ReMAKE): $19,200
University Partner: Marshall School of Business, Jill Kickul
Community Partner: Collective REMAKE, Mary Sutton
Website: collectiveremake.com
Collective REMAKE and its USC partners have created Co-operative Education and Development Programming (CEAD) for people impacted by incarceration and living in the USC neighborhood by developing an ongoing mentorship program with USC students in the Marshall School of Business and program participants.
Career Success Training for Youth: $5,800
University Partner: Marshall School of Business – Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Jeymi Choi
Community Partner: Youth Business Alliance, Betsy Blanchard
Website: www.youthbizalliance.org
The Youth Business Alliance (YBA) was established to introduce local high school students in low-income neighborhoods to business and career skills and to connect them to career pathways and professionals from a variety of industries. By introducing LMI youth to career options, and illuminating the soft skills needed to succeed, YBA sets students on a pathway to success. The program serves students living in the University Park neighborhood.
Green Career Pathways: $22,500
University Partner: Marshall School of Business, Christine El Haddad
Community Partner: Los Angeles Conservation Corps, Adrianne Calbreath
The Green Career Pathways program transforms the lives of out-of-work and/or out-of-school young adults who face systemic and social barriers through work projects that provide on-the-job training and experience. The program connects its members with careers and college by providing help with job searches, résumé building, interview coaching, and college applications.
Inclusive Pathway to Healthcare Workforce: iPath: $18,600
University Partner: Keck School of Medicine, Maria Maldonado
Community Partner: East Los Angeles LAUSD Community of Schools, Ana Vega
Website: https://keck.usc.edu/physician-assistant-program
Through the USC Physician Assistant Pipeline Program, iPath provides a curriculum primarily focused on encouraging local middle and high school students and their families from the surrounding USC Health Science and University Park Campus communities to seek higher education and careers in health care. With support from graduate students, faculty, and professional tutors, they will be provided with educational instruction and resources, leadership development, and life skills to help them navigate through academic challenges.
Senior Empowerment for Independent Living: $12,570
University Partner: Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Maria Henke
Community Partner: Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment, Johnson Ng
Website: www.pacela.org
Empowerment for Independent Living, a partnership between Pacific Asian Consortium Employment (PACE) and the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, trains 40 individuals from the University Park Campus (UPC) Service Area to become certified and registered home care providers to serve LA’s growing senior community.
Sustainability
Services for the Unhoused
Core Tutoring Program – School on Wheels: $19,600
University Partner: Marshall School of Business, Hank Wasiak
Community Partner: School on Wheels, Inc., Catherine Meek
Website: www.schoolonwheels.org
School on Wheels ensures educational opportunities for children who are experiencing homelessness from kindergarten through twelfth grade by providing hardware such as Chromebooks, important access to high-speed internet services, and their very own volunteer tutor who will meet with them every week to reduce the gaps in their remote learning experience.
Share A Meal: $14,000
University Partner: Office of Religious & Spiritual Life, Vanessa Gomez-Brake
Community Partner: Khalsa Peace Corps, Ravinder (Ravi) Singh
Website: https://www.shareameal.net/
Share A Meal’s mission is to build caring communities through mobile kitchens selflessly sharing meals and basic necessities with the local unhoused community. This program operates a mobile food truck that annually distributes thousands of fresh burritos to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, serving any community member who might experience food insecurity on any given night.
Trojan Shelter: $5,050
University Partner: Sol Price School of Public Policy, Alex Graddy-Reed
Community Partner: Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Eric Shafer
Website: trojanshelter.org
Trojan Shelter aims to advocate for and provide the necessary resources to serve the overlooked population of college students experiencing homelessness. This student-run organization provides free-of-charge housing and meals while also promoting long-term solutions.
Water Drop LA: $13,400
University Partner: Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Emily Artiano
Community Partner: Water Drops LA, Aria Catano
Website: https://waterdropla.org
Founded at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic by USC students and alumni, Water Drop LA is a 100% volunteer-run mutual aid organization whose mission is to address the urgent need for clean water until safe and dignified permanent water infrastructure can be installed for the unhoused populations in Los Angeles.