CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND
Our grant of $25,000 supports the Beat the Odds Program to increase college matriculation and completion among underrepresented youth. CDF’s mission is to ensure a level playing field for all children. They champion policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education and a moral and spiritual foundation. CDF works to change the systems, laws and practices that are historically biased, often through the lens of race and economic prejudice, and that serve to perpetuate ruinous outcomes for poor children in California. Our grant will serve 10 high-school students aged 15-18 and 50 students aged 18-22 who are at various stages of completing post-secondary education. Beat the Odds has worked to increase college matriculation and completion rates among underrepresented youth. Sixty scholars are supported year-round, all of whom are facing compounded adversity, overcoming personal, familial, and systematic barriers, while remaining steady in pursuit of their goals. They receive individualized academic and college counseling, college tours/planning, assistance in financial aid applications, mentoring, skills building, internship placements, and training in advocacy, research and policy analysis to grow the pipeline of young change makers.