KYCC was awarded a generous $50,000 grant in December 2016 from the S. Mark Taper Foundation to provide ongoing support for our Menlo Family Center youth programs. KYCC’s Menlo Family Center provides on-site services for the residents of the Menlo Family Apartments, a 209-unit affordable housing building on the border of the Pico-Union and Koreatown neighborhoods.

Menlo Family Apartments is home to almost 300 people—many of whom were previously homeless, or are families with children who have experienced mental illness. Five of the units are earmarked for transition aged youth.

The Taper grant will be allocated toward KYCC’s Elementary Tutorial Program (ETP), which provides academic support and parent engagement; the Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) program, which helps youth become successful young adults through teambuilding workshops and life skills trainings; and STOKED, a youth action sports program for middle and high school students. Over 50 students are currently attending these programs.

The Taper Grant also supports events to facilitate family togetherness, such as the recent Menlo Family Night, a casual evening get-together where children and families watched movies and played board games.

“Our model is focusing on engaging the whole family. Not only do we provide after-school programs, but our case management services give us the capacity to serve parents as well. For students to be successful, they really need the support of their families,” said KYCC’s Senior Manager of Children and Family Services Ernie Yoshikawa. “The S. Mark Taper grant is critical in helping KYCC sustain these services that we provide at Menlo.”

The S. Mark Taper Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to sustaining the work of nonprofit organizations in their Southern Californian communities since 1989.