KYCC’s Resiliency, Integrity, Self-Assurance, and Empowered (RISE) Youth Program will serve residents in and near the Menlo Family Apartments, bordering Koreatown and Pico-Union, Los Angeles.
KYCC is the primary service provider for the 60 unit low-income housing complex that houses families coming out of homelessness and have open Department of Mental Health cases; over 60% are single parent homes. The target population is Latino, African American, and Asian, and are from high-poverty and Title 1 schools, dealing with significant achievement gaps. RISE Youth Program will expand services to youth and families with academic diagnostics and one-on-one tutoring, Social Emotional Learning training, parent education, youth-led community organizing activities, and multi-dimensional extracurricular activities such as arts and sports.
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“My name is Shawn and I participate in (KYCC’s) after school program. We go play basketball and stuff… I like it here a lot.” Sharon Brown, formerly homeless resident and Shawn’s mother said that Menlo Family Center “kept him out from being out on the streets, getting involved with the wrong kind of people. Being here, he gets a chance to get a little bit more educated and a chance to get out and meet new people.”
Shawn, Age 14
“The touchstone of KYCC is youth services. We have spent 45 years building our services around positively impacting the future of our most vulnerable youth. With the support of California Community Foundation and Liberty Hill Foundation, we can make a real impact on serving youth and families who need us the most. We are committed to this endeavor and will do whatever we can to do just that.”
Johng Ho Song - Executive Director