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For Immediate Release
September 5, 2000

Eve Harris, i.e. communications
(415) 616-3930

Dollie Utter, TCWF
(818) 715-1981

Local Organizations Promote Health and Wellness at The Los Angeles Times Festival of Health

TCWF Underwrites the Participation of Three Grantees

Los Angeles, CA - Three grantees funded by The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) will participate in the second annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Health, a free event open to the public to be held Saturday and Sunday, September 16-17, on the University of Southern California’s campus.

The nonprofit organizations are: A Place Called Home, Bresee Foundation and Maternal and Child Health Access. TCWF is a major sponsor of the Festival and arranged for the organizations to present their health information at a pavilion booth.

Last year more than 20,000 people attended the inaugural Festival and learned about programs and projects that improve the health of their communities. This year once again, the Festival will feature a variety of panels, informational booths and keynote speakers addressing health and wellness topics. The Los Angeles Times will also publish a related special section on health.

"We are happy to make possible the participation of these three outstanding organizations," said Gary L. Yates, TCWF president and chief executive officer. "The information and services they provide improve and promote the health and wellness of many Southern Californians."

Grantees Provide Health Promotion Information at Festival Pavilion

As part of its Festival sponsorship, the Foundation will have youth and adults from three Los Angeles community-based organizations at a pavilion booth. The organizations are all grantees of the Foundation and will provide information on their programs, which improve the health of their communities. Grantees will be available to answer questions about their services and provide health information throughout the two-day Festival.

A Place Called Home

In South Central Los Angeles, 3,500 children this year will find help through A Place Called Home (APCH). The prevention of violence is a major component of TCWF funding, which helps APCH offer gang-prevention services to youth and adults ages nine through 20 in South Central Los Angeles. Begun seven years ago, APCH provides a family environment offering one-on-one mentoring, compassion and "unconditional love," according to Executive Director Debrah Constance.

"We’re looking forward to the Festival as a way to share information about our services with more people," Constance said. "And maybe some will become volunteers; we always need tutors and mentors for children."

At the Festival, staff and volunteers will have T-shirts and hand-made sock dolls available, alongside flyers and brochures about APCH services. A video will also explain the agency’s full range of activities, including providing youth with access to recording and dance studios, art and computer classes, 12-step and after-school programs, and an alternative high school affiliated with the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Bresee Foundation

Many Angelinos know about its community health program, which serves 3,000 families each year, but the Bresee Foundation also helps prepare families for healthier lives with literacy training and a focus on employment. Because better jobs can provide the income and benefits that support a healthy lifestyle and enhance access to health care, TCWF funds the Bresee Foundation as one of its eleven "Computers In Our Future" (CIOF) projects around the state. CIOF is a grantmaking program of the TCWF’s Work and Health Initiative.

"All we do is treat people with dignity and respect and try to improve the quality of life and health for people in this neighborhood. Healthier lives, healthier neighborhoods, people have the power to make it better," said Reverend Jeff Carr, executive director of the Bresee Foundation.

During the first six months of 2000, 262 youth and 133 adults used the

Bresee Foundation’s "Cyberhood Community Computing Center," which provides low-income youth and young adults with access to computers and technology training. The Bresee Foundation will bring to the Festival information about the breadth of its services, including the Youth Center on West Third Street, outreach and recreation programs, health services, literacy and academic enrichment, and technology and employment support programs.

Maternal & Child Health Access

The fully bilingual services at Maternal & Child Health Access (MCHA) are designed to ensure meaningful access to health and social services for low-income women and their families. MCHA offers outreach and case management to pregnant women in the downtown Los Angeles area. In the past year it has begun a substantial, public awareness effort to inform immigrant communities about their rights to health care access.

"We go to health fairs," said Executive Director Lynn Kersey, "but we’ve never done anything as big as this. The Festival is an opportunity, located near our program site, to reach thousands of people with information."

TCWF funds an MCHA project that provides information about patients’ rights to Medi-Cal managed care enrollees. The MCHA staff will be on hand at the Festival to answer questions about accessing public health care and about their own services, which include weekly education and support classes on health and parenting topics and training for other agencies on access to health care.

TCWF is an independent, private foundation created in 1992, with a mission to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention. The Foundation provides long-term funding in five priority areas: community health, population health improvement, teenage pregnancy prevention, violence prevention and work & health. It also provides health-related funding through a Special Projects Fund and General Grants Program. TCWF has awarded 1,992 grants totaling nearly $294 million since 1992.

Please visit the TCWF website at www.tcwf.org. For information about the Los Angeles Times Festival of Health, visit its website at www.latimes.com/festivalofhealth. The Foundation's site has an official link to the Times' Festival of Health website.

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