The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles has awarded $20,000 to Mar Vista Family Center (MVFC) to fund its Early Childhood Education’s Baby and Me Program. The funding will support low-income infants and toddlers, ages 0 to 3, and their parents/caregivers to attend tuition-free classes focused on key milestones in social-emotional, and motor development skills, as well as what parents/caregivers should expect next in their child’s development.
Through the Baby and Me Program, parents begin to learn the importance of learning to bond with their children, how to deal with tantrums, effective communication with their child, identifying potential safety hazards, stimulating and engaging their child, recognizing developmental milestones and developing healthy habits.
“Now, more than ever, children and families need the tools and resources to create positive change in their lives and in their community,” Mar Vista Family Center’s CEO Lucia Diaz said. “We’re profoundly grateful to the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles for addressing a critical need and helping our parents to learn important information about their child’s development at an early age.”
“The Foundation recognizes that the need for programs supporting the development of children ages 0 to 3 and their parents, particularly for those families living at or below the poverty line, is more pressing than ever,” President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles Marvin I. Schotland said. Mar Vista’s Baby and Me program plays an integral function in delivering these services.”
Mar Vista Family Center was founded as a preschool for lowincome families that aimed to engage parents as partners in the education of the children, but has expanded its services to serve elementary and high school students as well as adults. MVFC’s programming and services has improved family functioning, decreased domestic violence, and improved youth’s academic successes and rates of attendance at institutes of higher education.
This grant helps the center continue to offer quality early childhood education to hundreds of families and the opportunity to experience a learning environment grounded in strong parent-child interactions to its participants.
Established in 1954, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles is the largest manager of charitable assets and the leader in planned giving solutions for Greater Los Angeles Jewish philanthropists. The Foundation currently manages assets of $812 million (as of Dec. 31, 2012) and ranks among the 11 largest Los Angeles foundations. In 2012, The Foundation and its more than 1,000 donors distributed $53 million in grants to hundreds of nonprofit organizations with programs that span the range of philanthropic giving.
For more information, please visit: www.jewishfoundationla. org
