The Youth Policy Institute Brings Even More to Los Angeles

“If poverty is a disease that infects an entire community in the form of unemployment and violence; failing schools and broken homes, then we can’t just treat those symptoms in isolation. We have to heal that entire community. And we have to focus on what actually works.” – Pre-President Barack Obama, July 2007

In case you haven’t heard of the Youth Policy Institute (YPI), it’s an amazing organization (and one of our clients) that has been providing wraparound services to low-income families in Los Angeles since 1996—and is the lead agency of the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood.

Thanks to YPI, Los Angeles is now the proud recipient of all three grants related to President Obama’s White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative—a place-based strategy aimed at improving neighborhoods across the country. In fact, YPI is the ONLY nonprofit to receive these grants—and they are already helping families with these funds.

We have heard a number of stories–like that of “Maria,” a mother who came to YPI’s FamilySource Center in Hollywood for a computer class. She brought her school-aged child with her to the class because she was worried about gangs at the school. YPI staff brought Maria and her child down the hall to the LAUSD representative on site. The child started at a new school the next day.

YPI typically serves 100,000 people per year, like Maria and her child. The grants from the federal government are allowing them to do even more. As the lead agency for the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood, YPI and its 40+ partners are helping break the intergenerational cycle of poverty with cradle-to-college-and-career services.

Then, YPI received the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, which is aimed at helping improve safety and decrease crime in the same neighborhoods as the Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood.

The icing on the cake (for Los Angeles) is Choice Neighborhoods, which was announced just last month. YPI secured the planning grant that makes Los Angeles eligible for $31 million from the federal government to help families facing housing crises. Check out the Department of Housing and Urban Development Press Release, announcing this incredible feat.

Congratulations to YPI! Learn more about YPI at www.ypiusa.org

Here’s a brief background (with links) on each of the grants that YPI has received:

Promise Neighborhoods – which is funded by the Department of Education and is based upon the Harlem Children’s Zone model to provide services from cradle to college and career.
Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation – which is funded by the Department of Justice and targets neighborhoods with violent and serious crime.
Choice Neighborhoods – which is funded through the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The funding supports local solutions for transforming high poverty neighborhoods by revitalizing distressed housing, improving educational opportunities and increasing local economic activity.