Huntington Beach, CA Heal the Bay works to mobilize LA’s diverse communities to protect coastlines, restore waterways and speak out for clean water policy. The nonprofit has begun to take action on the massive oil spill that occurred starting on October 3rd off the coast of Orange County. 126,000 gallons of crude oil gushed from a seafloor pipe, owned by Amplify Energy, into the ocean.
The oil spill has affected many birds and fish who are washing ashore injured or dead. Seals, dolphins, and other marine mammals are also at great risk of swimming in contaminated water. The oil has also reached the sensitive and rare coastal wetlands at Talbert Marsh, a critical natural environment not only for wildlife habitat but also for improving water quality.
Booms deployed by the City of Huntington Beach at Talbert Wetlands to prevent the further spread of oil.
Heal the Bay is encouraging people to stay away from the spill for their own safety. The Science and Policy team is working on a public call to action with specific policy demands that will be shared on the nonprofit’s blog soon. Aministrators ask that people don’t intervene on their own if they encounter injured or oiled wildlife. Instead, report this to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at 1-877-823-6926.
Heal the Bay is an environmental nonprofit established in 1985 that is dedicated to making the coastal waters and watersheds in Greater Los Angeles safe, healthy, and clean. We use science, education, community action, and advocacy to fulfill our mission.
Los Angeles, CA. All Peoples Community Center Executive Director Saundra Bryant talks about the difficulties young children are facing in a virtual academic setting and how the center has adjusted its programs to fit the state’s current public health guidelines. Annually, All Peoples hosts a “Back to School” night for youth. This year, to help with the adjustment to remote learning, staff distributed Back to School “remote learning” supply bags. 300 youth received school supplies for the upcoming school year, as seen above.
Bryant explains, “It’s trying to adjust to a new learning curve.” All Peoples Community Center primarily focuses on helping the local youth’s education and wellbeings with the center’s events and activities like extended child daycare, after-school programs, and summer camp.
Bryant notes that children between grades 1-4 had an especially difficult time with distant learning in comparison to other age groups. The staff has found over time that this age group is more focused and easier to help within scheduled one-on-one virtual tutoring sessions.
The organization had to make significant adjustments this year to provide opportunities to kids without risking the spread of the coronavirus in large groups. The staff started to understand the issues surrounding distance learning from contacting parents and the youth of the center’s after-school programs in the first months of the pandemic.
Bryant listed a number of issues exemplified by the parents that include a lack of access to reliable internet and not having responsive, functional equipment needed for virtual learning.
Additionally, while some households are able to function within a stay-at-home environment, other larger households aren’t able to afford the same luxuries.
There can often be multiple people in one household who all need to use their one or two computers for meetings and work at the same time. This can create difficulty for everyone in the household in maintaining a regular routine for school and work fairly.
There are a number of virtual tutors that reach out to specific areas of the center’s youth like beginner art lessons led by Teens Youth Coordinator Erick “Sen” Moreno who has a Youtube channel where he posts his art lessons online like the one seen below:
Bryant’s staff has come up with a variety of ways to keep kids of all age groups engaged in a virtual setting by adding in fun activities that emphasize the main lessons and have talked about starting a book club as well.
The community center hasn’t completely shut down as the 20,000-square-foot building allows for the staff and a select few children to practice social distancing effectively.
“In some cases, we’re able to actually have students to come in for the tutoring sessions,” Bryant said, “that’s been more effective for some of our youth.”
The other reason the community center has stayed open is due to the active participation in certain campaigns with other nonprofits like the Angeleno Campaign which provided thousands of prepaid cards for struggling families, assistance in the ERAS application process for those unable to apply at home, and a weekly food distribution program.
All Peoples will continue to make important decisions for events and programs as the holiday season approaches.
“Normally we would do a Thanksgiving dinner where we would feed between 800-1,000 people,” Bryant said, “we are going to cancel that and we talked about doing a major food giveaway instead.”
Bryant listed an additional concern for the community in February 2021 where several unemployed LA residents could become homeless as a result of the expiration of LA County’s Temporary Eviction Moratorium for Residential Tenants.
“The other major concern that we are focused on is really about the education of our young people,” Bryant explained, “we know that our schools aren’t able to open safely, so what we’re looking at is our young people will have lost a year to a year-and-a-half of education.
“We’re already in a community where there is a concern about the education that our young people are receiving and the support that they need to be able to compete and now they’re a year-and-a-half behind.”
All Peoples Community Center will continue to keep the center open under strict social distancing for the youth who prefer a classroom learning environment and assisting individuals in the community for certain social services and programs.
The center launched the All Peoples Senior Food Delivery Service in October and are currently delivering to more than 40 seniors a week.
The center is labeled by the city’s mayor as an essential services provider and has subsequently seen a large increase of families needing assistance with food and other living essentials. Their donation page is here if you have the means to assist the center to continue operations during this unprecedented time.
From All Peoples Community Center:
Our mission is to provide social services and programs that empower individuals and promote community respect and self-determination for all.
All Peoples Community Center has become a comprehensive community center, delivering a myriad of social and educational services and activities. Our services and activities are driven by the purpose of:
Helping Children Succeed at Each Stage in their Development
Strengthening and Supporting Individuals and Families and Building Community
Preventing Violence and Crime, in the Community and in the Home
Addressing the Root Causes of Gang Involvement
Providing Job Training and Creating Job Opportunities
Los Angeles, CA. During the beginning months of the pandemic, Inclusive Action for the City has helped to provide immediate cash relief for small businesses and street vendors who were not eligible for government financial support. One hundred and twenty street vendors impacted by COVID-19 received $400 cash cards in early June through the Street Vendor Emergency Fund (see above).
For several decades, tens of thousands of street vendors have served the residents and tourists of Los Angeles despite the fact it was a criminalized practice in the city. It wasn’t until 2008 when they came together to legalize street vending with the help of the organizations that specialized in community development like East LA Community Corporation (ELACC).
Cash Cards for Street Vendors were much appreciated.
As street vendors started working with nonprofits, the Legalize Street Vending Campaign: Leadership for Urban Renewal Network (LURN) was created and focused on advocating for low-income communities, primarily concentrated with small businesses.
It wasn’t until a decade later that the long-term efforts of LURN and other committed communities paid off. Street vending became legal in November 2018, and low-income entrepreneurs were able to take control of their businesses and take care of their families without risking their livelihood.
“Inclusive Action is a lender, we provide small business loans to entrepreneurs,” said Inclusive Action’s executive director Rudy Espinoza, “many of our clients are street vendors, and they were coming in already anticipating that they were not going to be able to make their payments.”
Street vendors are not generally eligible for small business relief funds or other forms of government-sponsored financial support. Espinoza and his team were aware of this and heavily discussed in mid-March whether or not they should provide loans to those who were struggling with the quarantine. However, Inclusive Action decided against this action.
“We should not be doing loans to people right now that are struggling, but we need to get people cash,” Espinoza declared.
It was decided that the best way to help street vendors immediately was to distribute $400 cash cards (seen above) that could be withdrawn and used however the individual chooses. The decision allowed for the creation of the Street Vendor Emergency Fund with the collaboration of ELACC and Public Counsel.
1,032 street vendors were given immediate relief with the fund over the summer but Espinoza believes its “a drop in the bucket” to the much larger systemic issue of street vendors not being eligible for government benefits and having to rely on nonprofit organizations for relief during the pandemic.
“There should be more systems to protect vendors and take care of them during pandemics,” Espinoza said, “and the fact of the matter is that many of them have been struggling for a long time.”
There is hope for vendors to receive more immediate relief and support by the city as the Sidewalk Vending Pilot Program was recently passed by the LA County Board of Supervisors which will invest $1 million in assisting vendors with health-compliant equipment, education outreach, and other needs that will allow street vendors to safely sell in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles.
If you have the means to donate to Inclusive City for the City to continue working to help street vendors, click here.
From Inclusive Action for the City:
Inclusive Action addresses the root causes of poverty by merging good urban policy with sound economic development initiatives that reduce barriers, increase opportunity, strengthen local economies, and empower low-income residents and entrepreneurs across Los Angeles.
Our programs and initiatives seek to uplift those who face the most obstacles to social and economic opportunity. Inclusive Action empowers communities by prototyping innovative, scalable solutions that seek systems change, generating models that can be replicated and applied to all types of urban environments.
Los Angeles, California. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation announced that the LA organization Homeboy Industries is the recipient of the 2020 Humanitarian Prize on August 3rd. This gives the nonprofit 2.5 million dollars to use as it wishes.
Homeboy Industries has worked to help rehabilitate men and women who have been affected by gang violence or have been previously incarcerated.
According to Homeboy’s website: “Each year over 10,000 former gang members from across Los Angeles come through Homeboy Industries’ doors in an effort to make a positive change. They are welcomed into a community of mutual kinship, love, and a wide variety of services ranging from tattoo removal to anger management and parenting classes.”
Here’s a video about the honor:
As of August 2020, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has awarded 36.5 million to various nonprofit organizations.
President and CEO of the Conrad Hilton Foundation, Peter Laugharn spoke on the decision to choose Homeboy Industries.
“The Jury’s selection of Homeboy Industries as the recipient of the 2020 Hilton Humanitarian Prize speaks to the power of standing with people who have been systemically marginalized, creating space for them to heal and invest in their future, with the intention of ending the socio-economic inequities that impact communities. A tremendous example of ground-breaking humanitarian work right here in Los Angeles, its community-led approach has spawned and supported a global network of over 300 organizations. Homeboy Industries embodies the spirit of the Prize and the work of the Foundation — focusing on equity, resilience, and dignity — in an inspiring way.”
To help Homeboy Industries you can donate directly on its website, or you can buy merchandise, food, supplies, and more that will contribute to the organization.
From Conrad N. Hilton Foundation:
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is a family foundation established in 1944 by the man who started Hilton Hotels. We provide funds to nonprofit organizations working to improve the lives of individuals living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage throughout the world.
Los Angeles, CA. With school campuses and arts institutions shuttered since March, cultural and educational organizations everywhere have swiftly transformed their service models for virtual spaces. In the case of creative learning center Inner-City Arts, that has meant engaging its young people in virtual classrooms through its long-standing relationship with Los Angeles Unified School District, as well as sharing instructional and cultural enrichment content online through its new, self-paced Art Space programming. Now, Inner-City Arts is collaborating with Instagram on a new initiative called #spreadheART to highlight stories of people across the globe creating art during this time.
“Create Wherever You Are” is one project for self-expression. Oreganizers say, “Grab some chalk and a friend (whom you are social distancing with) to do our next #visualart mini project, “Sidewalk Self-Portrait!”
The campaign launched Thursday, May 28 on Instagram (@InnerCityArts) with a collage of short videos highlighting celebrated global artists and students making art while sheltered in place, including NYC artist and author Adam J. Kurtz (@adamjk), Italian street artist Alice Pasquini (@alicepasquini), Australian muralist George Rose (@george_rose), NYC illustrator Grace Miceli (@artbabygirl), Ghanian musician Lord Paper (@lordpaper_), LA actor and Emmy nominee Richard Cabral (@richardcabralofficial), and Indian street artists
Do & Khatra (@dostreetart, @bykhatra). Four Inner-City Arts students from its “Work Of Art” employment program join to give an inspiring glimpse into how they are spreading positivity through their creations.
“The transformative power of creativity and caring relationships have always been critical to the well-being of the young people we have served since 1989, and even more so right now,” shared Inner-City Arts Co-Artistic Director, Michael Sample. “We are very grateful to Instagram and these generous artists from around the world for helping us create this initiative for our global community. It’s an opportunity for us to inspire each other, and encourage one another with heartfelt, creative messages that can spread healing and hope during this time.”
The true call to action for #spreadheART is to connect everyday people wherever they are through the making and sharing of art. Communities from all over the map will be encouraged to “Create Art. Share Heart. Inspire the World” with their own artistic messages. To give the public more insight into the spirit of the campaign, the kickoff will be marked by an Instagram Live conversation at 4pm PT with artists Lord Paper, George Rose, and Inner-City Arts student Samantha Nieves, hosted by Marissa Herrera, Inner-City Arts Associate Producer of The Rosenthal Theatre.
“During Covid-19, we’ve seen people using Instagram in creative ways to express themselves and stay connected—from hosting Instagram Live dance classes to posting visual artwork depicting their life in quarantine” says Carolyn Merrell, Global Head of Policy Programs, Instagram. “Our partnership with Inner-City Arts is designed to help celebrate how people are using art to come together during this time, and foster a sense of community and hope as we move into a new phase of recovery.”
In June, user-generated #spreadheART creations will be selected for a curated public art exhibition that will be projected outside Inner-City Arts’ Skid Row campus and other iconic Los Angeles landmarks.
ABOUT INNER-CITY ARTS Founded in 1989, Inner-City Arts is a learning oasis in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles. Under the guidance of professional teaching artists, Inner-City Arts’ students are immersed in a safe and supportive environment where they may engage in a variety of visual and performing art forms in a studio setting. Services include core classes during the instructional day for grade K-8 students, after school and weekend workshops for teens and creativity based professional development training for educators. Children who attend Inner-City Arts develop skills that are highly valued in the 21st century workforce such as collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. WWW.INNER-CITYARTS.ORG
We are encouraging anyone to capture their creativity with a photo or video (dance, sing, play music, draw, paint, write) and share a message of love, hope, or healing with hashtag #spreadheART. Find the campaign on Instagram at @innercityarts.
Those seeking to support Inner-City Arts’ efforts to help youth and families with creative arts learning can get involved and make a donation of any size.
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