Encino Research Institute Gets $50,000 Grant from California Community Foundation

The Los Angeles-based California Community Foundation has awarded more than $5.1 million in grants to nonprofit organizations throughout the county, benefiting programs ranging from affordable housing to health care.

The Human Interaction Research Institute of Encino was awarded $50,000. The Institute uses behavorial sciences to help non-profit organizations handle innovation and change.

``Thanks to the generosity of donors past and present, CCF continues to make grants at a relatively high and consistent level,'' said CCF President and CEO Antonia Hernandez.``We strongly encourage more foundations, corporations and households to invest in the Los Angeles of today and tomorrow with us by helping stabilize and sustain community-based organizations.''

The grants originate from discretionary charitable funds established by past donors and subsequently invested by CCF, according to the foundation. The foundation awards money three times a year to qualified nonprofit organizations through grants in the arts, education, health care, housing and neighborhoods, human development and civic engagement.

According to the foundation, grants are generally two-year awards based on criteria including community impact of the program or service, leadership and management, effectiveness of the overseeing board and financial position. More than half of the total grant dollars were from the Centinela Valley Medical and Community Funds, established at CCF with money from the 1996 sale of the Centinela Hospital Medical Center that served Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale and surrounding communities, according to the foundation.

The grant recipients are: Management Support -- Human Interaction Research Institute, Encino, $50,000. Arts -- Contra Tiempo, Los Angeles, $86,000 -- DA Gallery, Pomona, $40,000 -- Friends of the Levitt Pavilion, Pasadena, $100,000 -- Grand Vision Foundation, San Pedro, $60,000 -- Highways Inc., Santa Monica, $66,000 -- Pen Center USA, West Beverly Hills, $50,000 Civic Engagement -- Alliance for a Better Community, Southeast L.A. County, $40,000 -- Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, Gardena, $40,000 Education -- Californians Together, Long Beach, $75,000 -- Communities for Teaching Excellence, Los Angeles, $100,000 -- Westside Children's Center Inc., Culver City, $100,000 Health Care -- Antelope Valley Community Clinic, Lancaster, $113,500 -- Bartz Altadonna Community Health, Lancaster, $100,000 -- Center for Community Change, Los Angeles, $115,000 -- Children's Clinic, Long Beach, $100,000 -- Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, $100,000 -- Community Health Alliance of Pasadena, Pasadena, $100,000 -- Eisner Pediatric & Family Medical Center, Los Angeles, $100,000 -- L.A. Biomedical Research Institute-UCLA Med Center, Torrance, $500,000 -- Regents of the University of California, Los Angeles, $500,000 -- Saint Francis Medical Center Foundation, Lynwood, $500,000 -- South Bay Family Healthcare Center, Torrance, $250,000 -- Southside Coalition of Community Health Centers, Los Angeles, $250,000 -- University Muslim Medical Association, Los Angeles, $150,000 -- Wilmington Community Free Clinic, Wilmington, $100,000 Housing and Neighborhoods -- Coalition for Responsible Community Development, Los Angeles, $100,000 -- East LA Community Corporation, Los Angeles, $100,000 -- LINC Housing Corporation, Long Beach, $80,000 -- Mercy Housing, Los Angeles, $100,000 -- Women Organizing Resources Knowledge and Services, Los Angeles, $100,000 Human Development -- A. Milton Miller Memorial Fund, Los Angeles, $50,000 -- Best Buddies California, Culver City, $60,000 -- Exceptional Children's Foundation, Culver City, $85,000 -- Goodwill Industries of Southern California, Los Angeles, $75,000 -- Southern California Bulldog Rescue, Santa Ana, $50,000.