Los Angeles, CA. From providing medical care to only 12 patients in a borrowed dental clinic on Lincoln Boulevard to operating 13 different locations and serving nearly 28,000 patients, Venice Family Clinic has come a long way in the past 50 years. To celebrate all the work they’ve accomplished, Venice Family Clinic invited their biggest supporters to a virtual celebration hosted by Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg in October.
Without the work of the Venice Family Clinic, 28,000 people could go without the healthcare and resources they need to live safe and healthy lives.
The clinic provides primary health care along with a number of extensive services including substance abuse treatment programs, domestic violence programs, early head start programs for mothers and their newborn children, and more. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinic has pivoted to providing telemedicine services for 50% of their appointments in order to limit the number of people who come into the clinic. Michelle Stuffmann, Communications Director, says how the clinic and its’ team are “trying to make sure that we are doing everything we can to keep both our patients and our workers healthy and safe.”
Venice Family Clinic celebrates 50th anniversary with virtual festivities (Picture by Venice Family Clinic)
The celebration showcased who the clinic is and what the clinic does while also raising donations in honor of the clinic. “The kick-off was tremendously successful, we had a generous donor who put up a million dollars to inspire matching gifts, and I am thrilled to say that we met that match”, Stuffmann shares. In addition to their virtual kick-off party, the clinic also hosted a week of action inspiring volunteers and supporters to perform acts of kindness for their community. Participants gave donations, purchased items off of the clinic’s amazon wishlist, put together care packages for patients experiencing homelessness, and more, all in service of the clinic and its’ patients.
Venice Family Clinic distributing fresh produce at Culver City location (Picture taken from Venice Family Clinic)
Venice Family Clinic recently started doing small distributions of fresh produce, a project which has grown immensely in the face of the pandemic. As a result of the community’s growing need, the clinic has expanded its food distribution to every Tuesday at their location in Santa Monica, and every other Thursday at their health center in Culver City. Stuffmann says there is no need to sign up, “we are in the community, by the community, for the community, so whether or not you are our patient or not, if you need help, just come to the distribution and we will give you food.” The clinic provides produce to 18,000 people a week and just recently made a partnership with UCLA dining services to provide full meals to 10,000 patients a week.
Los Angeles, CA. Valley Socials started in the San Fernando Valley. It is a unique social skills program for the special needs population. Program outings (pictured above before the pandemic) not only teach social skills but consumer skills and how to conduct confident business transactions. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, fundraising has become more challenging; the nonprofit is facing a funding crisis. Leaders fear families may need to pay for the enrichments. Janet Marie, the creator of the organization, says Valley Socials might have to be turned into a business instead of a non-profit, “I won’t stop working with the kids, but if we don’t get any donations soon, I might have to Valley Socials into a business.”
Social Valley friends at the museum before COVID-19
Currently, students are still meeting in parks and malls. They’re using safety measures and enjoying some social life activities. But, since the pandemic started, donations have stopped and it affects how the organization can continue to take the kids into activities. Janet drives kids to the activities and helps with snacks and other needs, but it is hard for her to keep going all by herself, especially because her daughter, Pauline, is a special needs teenager who needs all the support her mom can give.
Pauline was the reason Janet decided to start the Valley Socials. Janet saw all the improvements Pauline was making and wanted to give the same opportunities and hope to parents and kids in the same situation.
A day at the fire station with their community!
In addition to donations, Valley Socials is also looking for volunteers to help with meetings and having a bonding experience with special needs kids, teenagers, and adults.
If you’d like to donate, there’s more information on the Valley Socials website. The organization is also very active on social media.
From Valley Socials:
Our program provides lasting results because we don’t simply work with a participant’s strengths or compensate for a weakness, but we tackle the root cause of the issues by supervising social groups and having them actively participate in social activities.
“The Special Needs population is exploding due to the rise of diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and better assessments today. One in 59 children will be diagnosed with ASD. About 20% (or higher) students receive Special Education services in the USA. There are approximately 3.5 million Americans with special needs in America.”
Los Angeles, CA. Local nonprofits are in need of volunteers and now you can volunteer without leaving your home. Check out some COVID-safe ways to help your local community. Volunteer Match is a great place to find opportunities that are curated by interest. The organization has thirty categories including the following: Advocacy and Human Rights, Seniors, Arts and Culture, Health and Medicine, Environment, LGBTQ+, Crisis Support, and Homeless/Housing.
Types of virtual volunteering include the following:
Website design or support
Data entry
Email marketing or management
Fundraising phone calls and outreach
Social media promotion and management
App development
Volunteer tracking
Copywriting, blogging, or editing
Graphic design, photography
Marketing or branding assistance
Video creation
Virtual assistance, staff support
Nonprofits are also in need of funding. One way to help is by organizing a grassroots fundraiser for your favorite nonprofit. Unique fundraising options include: virtually teaching an art class, giving a makeup tutorial, hosting a cooking class, or any other skills you may have and would like to share. You can publicly host them via video conference, inviting your friends, family, and whoever else wants to join. You would ask for donations in return for your skill sharing. This way you can enjoy doing what you love; all while supporting a great cause.
Host a virtual cooking session as a way to stay connected as a community.
VolunteerMatch offers thousands of volunteer options. There is both a local need and you can also help remotely across the country, in some of the hardest-hit areas by offering assistance with things like tutoring kids who are struggling to learn at home.
Volunteerism is an essential part of our country’s social fabric and is perhaps most vital during times of crisis. And unlike familiar crises, the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the very nature of how people can connect with and help each other.
Los Angeles, CA. Bill Kramer, Director and President of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced that the new institution has exceeded its pre-opening fundraising campaign goal of $388 million. Shophia Loren and Laura Dern (center) pose with museum leaders for a photo at the construction site. This total encompasses capital gifts, endowments, funding for education programs, and other special gifts. A donation from LAIKA moved the museum over the finish line, closing out a campaign that was launched in 2012. The campaign is headed by chair Bob Iger and co-chairs Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a museum currently being build by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. It’s set to open on April 30, 2021, and will be the nation’s first large-scale museum entirely dedicated to the art, science, craft, business, and history of film.
The permanent and rotating exhibits will provide an immersive experience for visitors to explore the cultural and creative contributions that Hollywood and the film industry have made around the world.
For the fundraising campaign goal more than 13,000 donors contributed to the Campaign for the Academy Museum, with gifts coming from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government entities. Cheryl and Haim Saban made the largest contribution with a transformative $50 million gift for which the Saban Building (formerly a May Company department store) was named.
Campaign chair Bob Iger said, “This is a great day for the Academy Museum and the entire world of film. Thanks to the wonderful generosity of a broad community of donors, and to the commitment of co-chairs Annette Bening and Tom Hanks, we have proudly achieved our goal. The way ahead is clear, as we move at full speed toward an unforgettable grand opening in April 2021.”
“Closing this fundraising campaign is an important and exciting milestone for the Academy Museum,” said Bill Kramer. “We are deeply grateful to our campaign leadership and to our Trustees, donors, and partners who have made important commitments to the campaign. Their support is helping to make the Academy’s long-held dream of building the world’s premier film museum a reality.”
Ted Sarandos, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Academy Museum, said, “Thanks to the strong leadership of Bob Iger, the enlightened support of the Academy’s Board of Governors, and the dedication of the Academy Museum’s Board and staff, this new institution is now poised to deliver on its promise as the world’s premier museum of film. To all the donors who have stepped up to make this happen, on behalf of the Board I offer our heartfelt gratitude.”
Newly named at the Academy Museum is the LAIKA Gallery, dedicated to special collections, which will debut with The Path to Cinema: Highlights from the Richard Balzer Collection. This exhibition will showcase the world’s foremost collection of pre-cinema artifacts. Metro Goldwyn Mayer is providing support for the museum’s core exhibition, Stories of Cinema.
Eric and Melina Esrailian led a campaign effort to develop a program to provide access and opportunity to under-represented communities. Drs. Kathy Fields and Garry Rayant have contributed to the museum’s general education fund in honor of Sid Ganis and Nancy Hult Ganis.
New donors to the Pillar Campaign, co-chaired by museum trustees Laura Dern and Kimberly Steward, which names the support columns in the Saban Building, include Julia and Ken Gouw in honor of Miyoshi Umeki, the Oneida Indian Nation, New York in honor of Native American musician and advocate Buffy Sainte-Marie as well as Kimberly Steward and K Period Media in honor of Hattie McDaniel.
When it opens, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will be the world’s premier institution dedicated to the art and science of movies. Global in outlook and grounded in the unparalleled collections and expertise of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy Museum will offer exceptional exhibitions and programs that illuminate the world of cinema. They will be immersive and dynamic and will tell the many stories of the movies—their art, technology, artists, history, and social impact—through a variety of diverse and engaging voices. The Academy Museum will tell complete stories of moviemaking—celebratory, educational, and sometimes critical or uncomfortable.
Designed by Pritzker Prize—winning architect Renzo Piano, the Academy Museum’s six floors feature exhibition spaces, education and special event spaces, a conservation studio, a café, and a museum store. In addition, the museum’s 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater and 288-seat Ted Mann Theater will present a year-round calendar of screenings, film series, member programs, panel discussions, family programs, and symposia. Programs will include retrospectives and thematic series that illuminate the artistic and cultural contributions of an international selection of movie artists.
Every decision made at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures reflects a carefully crafted set of guiding principles that begins with the Mission Statement. These extend into the design of its exhibitions, the development of its public and educational programs, the creation of its publications, the hiring and growth of its staff, and the development of its board of trustees and committees.
These supporters join other generous philanthropists who have made leadership gifts to the museum, including: Cheryl and Haim Saban (Saban Building), The David Geffen Foundation (David Geffen Theater), Rolex (Rolex Gallery), Dalian Wanda Group (the Wanda Gallery), Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation in honor of Sid Ganis, Dolby Laboratories/Family of Ray Dolby (Dolby Family Terrace), The Walt Disney Company (Walt Disney Company Piazza), Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg (Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery), Steven Spielberg (Spielberg Family Gallery), Patricia Bellinger Balzer, Shirley Temple Black and Family (Shirley Temple Education Studio), East West Bank (East West Bank Gallery), Gale Anne Hurd (Hurd Gallery), Bob Iger and Willow Bay (Bob Iger and Willow Bay Terrace), NBCUniversal, Netflix (Netflix Terrace), Participant, Cecilia DeMille Presley (Cecil B. DeMille Founders Room), PwC, Richard Roth, Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman (Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman Terrace), The Simms/Mann Family Foundation (Ted Mann Theater), Jeff Skoll, Wendy Stark of The Fran and Ray Stark Foundation, Barbra Streisand (Barbra Streisand Bridge), Steve Tisch (Steve Tisch Terrace), Warner Bros. Entertainment (Warner Bros. Gallery), Wasserman Foundation (Wasserman Bridge), and Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events LLC/Compass Group USA, Inc. Additionally, the Academy Museum’s Digital Engagement Platform is sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies. A post-opening campaign to raise new endowment, programming, operating, and capital funds is being planned.
Los Angeles, CA. Homelessness, poverty, mental and physical illness, abuse, and addiction are on the rise in LA according to a nonprofit called The People Concern. Executive Director John Maceri discusses the difficulties of maintaining programs assisting unhoused individuals and domestic violence victims under COVID-19 public health guidelines.
The organization was founded in 2016 in a multi-faceted effort by two social services organizations to help victims of domestic violence and individuals facing homelessness.
“We’re an organization that is very diverse in terms of the services we provide,” Maceri said. Some services include money management programs, individual/group therapy sessions, and group outreach (seen above).
The Annenberg Access Center in Santa Monica is one location where there has been a sharp increase of participants since the quarantine in March. The Access Center is a place that provides a variety of services including free meals, shower/laundry access, and on-site medical care.
Maceri attributes the earlier shutdowns of public libraries, coffee shops, and other public amenities as a major cause for the increase of people going to the Access Center. “They’re places for people experiencing homelessness, people who live in the street, who had access to some of those amenities and don’t now,” Maceri explains. Other things like public computer access and charging phones are even more limited to unhoused individuals, bringing more attention to the Access Center. Director John Maceri spoke on MSNBC with Andrea Mitchell.
“Our goal really is to help scale and sustain the production of affordable housing,” Maceri said, “the way that we’re going to get beyond the crisis that we have on our streets is to build more housing to move people in.”
Interim and permanent housing under the new, stricter guidelines has also been a difficult issue The People Concern needed to adjust to.
“In our interim housing program, of course, to comply with the public health orders,” Maceri said, “we had to decompress the number of residents that we could have in many of those facilities.”
The People Concern’s Interim Housing Program provides daily basic living services and a place to stay for program participants transitioning out of homelessness. It also provides wellness activities, on-site medical care, and housing goal plans for each individual.
Participants are generally referred by other supporting nonprofits or outreach teams for the program. However, in order to lower the risk for current residents, The People Concern had to halt the arrivals of new referrals and new residents until it is safe to accept more in. The halting of new residents for programs has also affected areas with permanent housing projects and domestic violence shelters.
“One of the challenges of the pandemic is that it kept a lot of victims sheltering in place with their batterers,” Maceri said, “It’s also very hard for victims to leave; it’s harder for them to leave.” The Sojourn 24/7 Domestic Violence Hotline is still active today for victims who are looking for a way out of their situation regardless of the limitations of sheltering victims in crisis centers and other living facilities.
The People Concern believes no one should have to live on the street or in a violent household. Our staff, volunteers and those we serve work together to address the effects of homelessness, poverty, mental and physical illness, abuse and addiction. Our programs empower the most vulnerable among us to improve their quality of life – housed, healthy and safe – and become active participants in the community. We also work to educate the broader community and improve public policy.
Los Angeles, CA. Four hundred artists and 80 arts organizations received $2.7 million in total grants as part of a broad-based COVID-19 relief effort for the visual arts in the Los Angeles region, the J. Paul Getty Trust and the California Community Foundation announced today. (Beneficiaries include the Craft Contemporary Museum seen above.) The emergency support was designed to reach individual artists throughout all areas of LA County and arts organizations that serve the region’s culturally diverse communities.
“The arts are a source of expression, resistance, and healing,” says Joan Weinstein, director of the Getty Foundation, an operating program of the Getty Trust, which initiated the $10 million LA Arts COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund to help small and midsize visual arts organizations. “But our creative artists and arts organizations, who do so much to advocate for social change, will not survive this pandemic and its economic fallout if we don’t take action now to support them.”
The economic impact of COVID-19 has been especially hard on small and midsize arts institutions. The pandemic also laid bare inequities in funding, particularly for organizations that serve communities of color. Smaller arts organizations tend to operate without any endowment funds or cash reserves. Yet they act as essential community anchors, supporting creative expression for artists of color, providing access to the arts for underserved groups, and offering arts education in schools and at their own sites. Even while their doors have been closed, many have worked hard to maintain their community bonds, hosting COVID-19 testing sites or food distribution centers on their premises.
After months of lost revenue, these organizations are struggling to maintain staff, provide safe galleries and workspaces that meet new health and safety standards, and still ensure meaningful arts participation for their communities when they reopen.
The Getty is the world’s largest cultural and philanthropic organization dedicated to the visual arts. The Getty includes the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute (GRI), the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), and the Getty Foundation. The Getty welcomes visitors from around the world to its two Los Angeles locations: the Getty Center in Brentwood and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades.
The more than $2 million in emergency relief grants awarded to 80 visual arts nonprofits and museums provides support to meet urgent financial needs over the next three months, including staff salaries, rent, and emergency supplies to comply with public health measures. This basic operating support will also allow organizations some leeway to plan for reopening, restructuring, and collaboration. Innovation will be critical if these institutions want to continue their work.
“We’re going to have to become semi-experts in how to manage spaces and arts experiences through a public health lens,” says Betty Avila, executive director of the arts nonprofit Self Help Graphics & Art, which received an emergency grant.
Self Help has worked at the intersection of arts and social justice since 1973, serving its community in East Los Angeles by promoting local Chicana/o and Latinx artists. But Avila recognizes they won’t endure if they don’t adapt, and the COVID relief grant will start them on that path. “We cannot return to our work with a ‘back to business as usual’ perspective.” In the meantime, the emergency grant will help them cover operational expenses, including support for Self Help Graphics’ teaching artists.
The threats facing arts institutions extend to visual artists. Thousands saw their income evaporate as the museums and non-profit spaces that exhibit their work shuttered. Many also depend on part-time work as teaching artists or preparators who set up and take down exhibitions. Countless artists also survive on work in the gig economy. With high unemployment across the region, they are straining to find alternative sources of income.
The California Community Foundation and Getty responded by creating the Relief Fund for L.A. County Visual Artists. The Fund has provided emergency grants of up to $2000 each to 400 local artists who work in all visual arts disciplines. Artists who applied for grants were asked to demonstrate their artistic practice through an online presentation of their work and to describe their financial needs. Additional contributions came from a trio of local artist-endowed foundations: the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, the Sam Francis Foundation, and the Shepard and Amanda Fairey Foundation. The artist relief fund is administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation.
“This crisis is a wake-up call to all Angelenos to support the organizations that provide access to the arts and the artists that inspire us to be resilient,” says Antonia Hernández, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation, which is administering the LA Arts COVID-19 Fund. “The emergency grants will reach a wide array of arts nonprofits and dedicated artists, but more help is needed. The demand for funds was far greater than the supply. We welcome others to join us in this effort to ensure the arts continue contributing to the cultural vitality and wellness of our region for the benefit of all residents.”
For over 30 years, Getty and CCF have been longtime collaborators in the arts, supporting one of the most prestigious fellowships for visual artists in the country, the biennial Fellowships for Visual Artists. The Fellowship, led by CCF, was created by an earlier endowment from the Getty and has grown with subsequent donations from CCF and individual donors. The LA Arts COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund was a natural extension of that partnership. The next phase of their work together will focus on recovery grants to help key museums and visuals arts organizations reimagine their operations in order to survive and thrive in the coming years. More information on recovery funds will be available before this fall.
Getty is a leading global arts organization committed to the exhibition, conservation, and understanding of the world’s artistic and cultural heritage. Working collaboratively with partners around the globe, the Getty Foundation, Getty Conservation Institute, Getty Museum and Getty Research Institute are all dedicated to the greater understanding of the relationships between the world’s many cultures. The Los Angeles-based J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs share art, knowledge, and resources online at Getty.edu and welcome the public for free at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa.
The Getty Foundation fulfills the philanthropic mission of the Getty Trust by supporting individuals and institutions committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world. Through strategic grant initiatives, the Foundation strengthens art history as a global discipline, promotes the interdisciplinary practice of conservation, increases access to museum and archival collections, and develops current and future leaders in the visual arts. It carries out its work in collaboration with the other Getty Programs to ensure that they individually and collectively achieve maximum effect. Additional information is available at www.getty.edu/foundation.
About The California Community Foundation
The California Community Foundation has served as a public, charitable organization for Los Angeles County since 1915, its mission is to lead positive systemic change that strengthens Los Angeles communities. CCF manages 1,700 charitable foundations, funds and legacies. For more information, please visit calfund.org.
Los Angeles, CA. Social distancing requirements due to the Covid-19 pandemic are making it difficult for volunteers to do their typical hands-on work. Now an organization called L.A. Works is helping both nonprofits and volunteers find ways to help the community. Through a program called “Make Room For Caring in Social Distancing,” L.A. Works shares five ways volunteers can make an impact. Those options include the following: volunteer at a COVID-19 testing site, volunteer for in-person hunger relief, volunteer from home, join the Red Cross, or make a donation. For those who are healthy and able to do so, important programs such as COVID-19 testing and hunger relief are desperate for hands-on volunteer workers.
Volunteer working at COVID-19 drive-thru testing site
For those who would prefer to volunteer from home, L.A. Works offers hundreds of engaging virtual volunteering opportunities such as doing a Zoomba class with special needs youth, virtual tutoring with underprivileged children, and fitness class fundraisers. L.A. Works has also started the #MillionMaskChallengeLA which is a volunteer project challenging Los Angeles residents to sew as many masks as they can and donate them to those in need. Program administrators write, “At L.A. Works, we are proud to see our community at its best, working together while staying apart. We know, now more than ever, we are in this together and we must respond together.”
BLM protesters participate in June protest
In addition to promoting safe volunteering options, L.A. Works also dedicates part of its volunteer efforts toward the Black Lives Matter movement. L.A. Works makes it easy for volunteers to become involved in the movement, whether this means becoming educated on systemic racism or volunteering to help close the education gap. This goal is stated on the nonprofit’s website: “Creating volunteer programs and experiences infused with discussions, learning, and advocacy to advance social change is at the very core of our mission.” To achieve this goal L.A. works offers volunteers the opportunity to join an advocacy program on racial justice, volunteer to tutor disadvantaged children, and feed the homeless.
Los Angeles, CA. The Healthy LA Coalition was established by a number of nonprofit organizations looking for solutions to the hardships caused by COVID-19 in the LA County area. (Above photo is of volunteers at Maywood YMCA for LA Regional Food Bank).
“We actually came together for the first time on the evening of March 12th,” said David Levitus, one of the original co-organizers of Healthy LA, “I ended up putting together the Healthy LA website for two hours on Saturday on the 14th, got it published, put up a Google form to collect signatures, and it just snowballed from there.”
It started with twenty-five people on a conference call discussing how they can help with pushing legislation that will help the community affected by the pandemic. After the creation of the official website, Healthy LA would quickly grow from a network of twenty-five in March to 335 by the end of the summer. While the majority of organizations that were added to the website were nonprofits, thirty-five religious congregations/denominations and twenty-eight regular businesses had also joined the coalition via application through Levitus’s Google form.
The rapid growth of the Healthy LA Coalition over the course of a few months allowed the network of organizations to develop thirty different legislative proposals to the board of supervisors for LA County.
“We just knew that the crisis was so big that even on the economic side, we needed nothing less than really bold proposals,” Levitus stated.
Twenty of the thirty proposals Healthy LA presented to the LA City Council and County Supervisors were enacted through immense lobbying efforts and communicating to the general public about the proposed legislation. The proposals covered a wide array of protection for the community including the unhoused, undocumented, and incarcerated individuals in the county.
Levitus considered their collective effort to increase worker protection was one of the most significant victories for Healthy LA as it guaranteed fourteen days of sick leave for an additional 440,000 LA workers. These city and county workers were not originally eligible for the federal paid sick leave policy as they worked in firms with over five hundred employees.
The initial website banner for Healthy LA and its main proposals which have nearly all been passed by the LA City Council and Board of Supervisors.
One of the proposals that have proved to be more challenging to pass on both a county and state level is a robust moratorium for foreclosures and evictions. There are currently protections for tenants who are unable to pay for their rent that has recently been extended to March 2021; however, if tenants are unable to pay the minimum 25% of their regular rent in the coming months, they can be evicted as early as February 1. Considering that the moratorium could have been extended as far as 2024, Healthy LA continues to advocate for tenants who face eviction in the next year.
Levitus believes there is still a lot of work to be done to help those who need it most and that drastic social reform as seen after the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement would make a positive difference to Los Angeles and beyond.
“We need a third reconstruction,” Levitus said in consideration to the coalition’s goals beyond COVID-19, “to transform our society that is racially and economically just, and I think we all share that perspective at Healthy LA so that’s really the long-term vision.”
From Healthy LA Coalition:
We are a network of more than 330 advocacy organizations, worker centers, labor unions, service providers, religious congregations, community groups, affordable housing developers, public interest lawyers, public health and safety organizations, and many more uniting to propose concrete solutions to the many hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Los Angeles, CA. Griffith Park hiking trails are open, including Observatory grounds, as are most park roads and parking. Face coverings are required. However, Griffith Observatory is currently closed to the public as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators are doing their best to keep the public connected by offering several online exhibits and activities through its website. One of these programs is called All Space Considered. It’s a live, free program, broadcasted on the first Friday of every month over Griffith Observatory TV. The next will be November 2nd.
During this program, Observatory staff members educate viewers on the most talked about topics of space, including special celestial events and Apollo anniversaries.
Dr. Laura Danly, an Astronomer who serves as Curator to Griffith Observatory, said about their most popular programs, “We had over a million views. NASA used our feed for years before they finally did their own setup! I have been very proud of what we built with very few resources.”
Dr. Laura Danly, an Astronomer who serves as Curator to Griffith Observatory, (photo is from a TEDx Talk, Sep 26th, 2017.)
Danly has plans to retire from Griffith on December 5th and is unsure if she will be able to do another show beforehand. In addition to All Space Considered, Danly has created many other virtual features such as processing your own Juno images, a community photo gallery, detailed sky reports, and more. Before her departure, Danly plans to add the option to process your own Hubble images as well.
Griffith Observatory is a public observatory owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. While open and running, Griffith is one of the most popular informal education facilities in the U.S. and the most-visited public observatory in the world welcoming around 1.5 million visitors a year. The observatory is the living dream of a man named Griffith J. Griffith who donated the land for the park in 1896 and specified his vision for the park in his will. The observatory is home to several exhibits including public telescopes, an interactive and complete hall of the sky, and even a planetarium. Griffith J. Griffith believed “that if all mankind could look through [a] telescope it would change the world!”.
Griffith Hall of The Sky exhibit Photography by Justin Donais
Griffith Observatory inspires everyone to observe, ponder, and understand the sky. Griffith Observatory is an icon of Los Angeles, a national leader in public astronomy, a beloved civic gathering place, and one of southern California’s most popular attractions. The Observatory is located on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, just above the Los Feliz neighborhood. It is 1,134 feet above sea level and is visible from many parts of the Los Angeles basin. The Observatory is the best vantage point for observing the world-famous Hollywood Sign.
Los Angeles, CA. Over the last forty years, The Downtown Women’s Center (DWC) has helped nearly 110,000 disadvantaged women with meals and housing. DWC was launched in 1978 because of the friendship between two women; Jill Halverson (pictured on the right above) created the nonprofit to help an inspiring homeless woman, and friend named Rosa (pictured above on the left). During the four decades that followed, DWC has grown into a nonprofit providing many vital services to disadvantaged women. DWC is the only organization in Los Angeles focused exclusively on serving and empowering women experiencing homelessness and formerly homeless women.
DWC representative Anita Vukovic says it’s hard to keep up with all the need, especially during a pandemic. “A lot of DWC work had to change due to consideration of social distancing measures, our community is especially vulnerable to COVID-19 due to underlying health conditions that many women experience. Our community is usually 55 years old and older,” Vukovic explained. DWC is able to provide more than 800 meals a day and offer on-site services in its parking lot, which enables social distancing. “Our health clinic also continues to operate Tuesday to Friday.”
Today, DWC manages 119 units of permanent housing across greater Los Angeles (like the apartment seen above) and has grown to serve more than 5,400 women annually.
DWC was recently selected as one of the 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year by California Senator Holly Mitchell of the 30th Senate District. DWC is one of over a hundred other nonprofits that will be honored by their state senators and assembly members for their contributions. State leaders want to honor DWC staff and volunteers, because they provide women with access to basic needs and resources, housing assistance, trauma-informed case management, mental and physical healthcare, job readiness and workforce development, and advocacy training and resources. “As our services expand to meet the community’s growing needs under COVID-19, we are deeply humbled to be recognized as a 2020 Nonprofit of the Year,” said DWC Chief Executive Officer Amy Turk. “DWC’s decades-long relationship with Senator Mitchell has always been a special one, and we are thrilled to continue working with her to bring greater visibility and resources to women experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles and across California.”
Women’s Health Center Clinic, DWC.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also made it difficult for DWC to use outside helpers.
“Volunteers have been the heart of our community in everything we do and how we are able to serve women,” says, Vukovic. DWC is still looking for opportunities to get their volunteers together. In September DWC had a three-week virtual campaign. “We saw a lot of positive feedback and engagement with that, people were really excited to be able to engage. We are looking into actually continue with that into the future.”
From Women’s Health Center:
How can you be informed on Housing First and Trauma-Informed:
Access to basic needs and resources through our Day Center, where women can receive three daily meals and access to showers, restrooms, mail, laundry, and telephones.
On-site housing and supportive services, with our 119 units of permanent housing across two residences making us one of the largest housing providers for women in the country.
Community-based housing services, provided in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, and various private foundations and corporations.
Health and wellness services, including individual and group counseling, medical care, mental health services, preventive screenings, Trauma Recovery Center services, and enrichment activities.
Job readiness and employment training, as well as job placement services and transitional jobs at MADE by DWC, in partnership with LA:RISE.
Advocacy training, to empower women to become successful advocates for themselves and others by participating in press interviews, public policy meetings, lobby visits with legislators, fundraising events, press conferences, and more.
Public education and volunteering, with a volunteer program that engages over 5,000 individuals annually.
We envision a Los Angeles with every woman housed and on a path to personal stability. Our mission is to end homelessness for women in greater Los Angeles through housing, wellness, and advocacy.
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