Children's Institute, Inc.
Children's Institute is 107 years old and has developed an integrated service model designed to support the whole child, from birth to young adult, as well as entire families, through counseling and support services. They uniquely view all their services through a trauma lens, believing that many emotional/behavioral difficulties are directly attributable to past traumatic events. They will use our grant of $16,945.00 for computer equipment, including 10 MacBooks, customized software, a printer, a scanner, a photo printer and multimedia projector, in order to create College Corner. College Corner will be provided within the youth friendly atmosphere of the Teen Center at the Otis Booth Campus in the Central Los Angeles Rampart neighborhood, and will target high school students with average grades of B and C who desire to go to college. These kids face crushing poverty, high crime rates, aggressive gang activity in their neighborhoods, and are often more concerned with surviving day-to-day challenges. College Corner will be the only way they will learn what they need to accomplish year by year in high school in order to get into college. Many children who are bright and full of potential are overlooked in the LAUSD school system, and this project may be their only means of getting assistance with admissions and funding processes. These youth are likely to be from families whose parents have cultural, language and education barriers. An important objective of this project will include a component to make parents aware of college requirements and teach them how to support their child's academic goals. College Corner aims to break the cycle of poverty for 100 – 150 youth each year by making sure these students have everything they need to enroll and succeed in college. The program coordinator will facilitate both individualized and group instruction, aiding in the mission of providing a continuum of services for the families they serve.