Hillsides Receives $100,000 Grant from the Weingart Foundation
(PASADENA, CA) The Los Angeles charity Hillsides is pleased to announce the receipt of a $100,000 core support grant from the Weingart Foundation. The grant award will help to support three of Hillsides’ core programs: Residential Treatment Services, Hillsides Education Center (HEC), and Youth Moving On (YMO). The funding will also assist the agency in implementing Trauma Informed Care, an approach to service that recognizes the profound effects of trauma on children and offers effective ways to work with clients who have experienced trauma. Hillsides is one of just 37 agencies in the nation and two in Los Angeles County to be chosen this year for this distinction by the National Council for Behavioral Health, which advocates for and serves the nation’s mentally ill and those with addiction disorders.
“The Weingart Foundations’s support gives us the flexibility to direct financial resources where they are needed the most in order to strengthen and expand our current mental health and social services programs,” said Joseph M. Costa, Hillsides’ chief executive officer. “It will also allow us to build our capacity even further as an advocate on behalf of children and families in need.”
Hillsides Residential Treatment Services provide a safe and stable environment for children and youth who cannot live at home, have suffered from trauma, or who suffer from emotional and behavioral challenges. HEC is a therapeutic residential and day school offering individualized education for students suffering from social-emotional, learning and/or behavioral challenges. YMO provides former foster care and probation youth affordable quality housing and other support services to help them transition into successful adulthood.
Residential Treatment Services, YMO, and HEC are facing financial pressure due to state budget cuts, changing treatment models, and increasing demand for services. In addition, children in the residential program have more severe disorders than in the past and therefore require more intensive and costly treatment. The Weingart Foundation funding ensures that Hillsides will maintain its full range of services in these three programs, which includes YMO’s new Peer Resource Center that provides youth 16 – 24 with a wide array of services and resources.
The Weingart Foundation’s grant will also support Hillsides’ efforts to meet with local, state, and federal officials to inform them of the impact of policies and legislations on at-risk children and families, which will benefit the more than 7,400 individuals the agency serves each year.
The Weingart Foundation provides grants and other support designed to improve the capacity and sustainability of non-profit organizations to achieve their missions in the areas of health, human services, and human services.
Hillsides, which is celebrating its centennial this year, is a premier provider of behavioral and educational services dedicated to improving the overall well-being and functioning of vulnerable children, youth, and their families. For more information, please visit www.hillsides.org.
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CONTACT: Marisol Barrios
Office: (323) 543-2800 ext. 128
Cell 310 713-8567
E-mail: mbarrios@hillsides.org
