Children’s Institute’s Project Fatherhood program recently hosted its 8^th annual Father-Daughter Tea, a special opportunity for fathers and daughters to spend time together in a memorable princess-themed setting.

Roughly 70 people attended the event at CII’s Otis Booth Campus in Echo Park. The dads are enrolled in Project Fatherhood where they learn skills to be active participants in their children’s lives while supporting one another through the program’s Men in Relationships Group.

As a long-time supporter of Father-Daughter Tea, the Junior League of Los Angeles (JLLA) brought 30 volunteers to Saturday’s event. In addition to helping out with the activities, the group provided floral center pieces, nail painting materials and pastries.

Edward Berumen, Senior Clinical Supervisor at Project Fatherhood, said the tea is designed so fathers spend valuable one on one time with their daughters. For many dads, the default is for the mom to take on parenting responsibilities with daughters. Berumen said the program encourages dads to take individual parenting roles with all of their children.

“The key to the event is providing an opportunity for fathers and daughters to interact in a way that can be replicated,” he said. “For many of the dads, this wasn’t something they’ve had the chance to do and we want them to feel like this can be a regular experience.”

While Project Fatherhood hosts other family events throughout the year, including a father-son event, Keith Parker, Director of Project Fatherhood, said there is something special about the interactions at the Father-Daughter Tea.

Anthony and his daughter Faith attended Saturday’s event where they enjoyed the photo booth and nail painting station.

“This event is about the excitement of seeing little girls creating memories with their fathers that they’ll look back on in 20-30 years from now and think about how they got spend one on one time with their dad,” he said.

Project Fatherhood client Anthony attended Saturday’s event with his daughter Faith. Anthony said he appreciates the events Project Fatherhood hosts during the year where he can bond with his children while connecting with other dads. He said his weekly Project Fatherhood group has taught him patience while also offering emotional support during challenging times.

Good+Foundation provided gift bags to each girl including cosmetic items.

“It means a lot to us for everyone to take the time out and create an event where I can sit down and have tea with my daughter,” he said as his daughter showed off her newly painted nails from the nearby manicure station run by JLLA.

In addition to JLLA’s support, Good+Foundation donated gift bags that were filled with makeup, hygiene items, and other special gifts for the girls and their fathers.

To learn more about Project Fatherhood, click here. View more event photos here.

Children’s Institute has received new funding to evaluate programs that support families impacted by generational trauma and community violence in South Los Angeles. Blue Shield of California Foundation has committed $300,000 to study the impact of our 2-Generation Neighborhood School Program at two early education sites over the next two years.

The funding is part of the foundation’s $9 million commitment to organizations across California. “We’re incredibly excited to support CII, which has been a cornerstone community service and is on the frontline of prevention, especially in communities experiencing enormous duress in this political and policy environment,” said Carolyn Wang Kong, Blue Shield of California Foundation Chief Program Director.

High rates of poverty and violent crime disproportionately plague areas of South LA where CII operates 28 Head Start and Early Head Start centers. CII’s 2-Generation Neighborhood Schools Program, also known as whole-child whole-family, began last fall at Ánimo College Preparatory Academy, Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School and CII’s Jordan Downs Head Start in response to the needs of children and families living in poverty who face housing instability, inadequate healthcare, and exposure to trauma at home or in their communities – all of which all impact learning ability.

The central idea is to turn the early education center into a hub of services and supports for children and families. Services will be provided by CII and other partners such as food pantries, workforce development specialists, primary care providers and more.

The grant from Blue Shield will study the impact of the 2-Generation approach when it is expanded to CII’s Main Street and South Vermont early education centers.

Dr. Todd Sosna, Chief Program Officer at CII, said that most families who engage with CII have complex needs and as a result can benefit from multiple services. The concept behind this approach is that both children and parents are supported in a comprehensive manner, rather than focusing services on just one family member and just one area of need. CII believes enduring success involves the entire family by building on their strengths to support all areas of need.

“We are able to do this by coordinating services within CII and partnering with other agencies,” Dr. Sosna said. “Being more intentional around providing services to both children and parents is a strategic priority for CII, and the focus of ongoing efforts implemented throughout our agency.”

Children’s Institute is partnering with the US Census Bureau to ensure everyone in South Los Angeles participates in the official 2020 Census.

CII will be joining 50 groups that are identifying “hard-to-count” populations; historically, residents of low income neighborhoods, specifically children under five, are under-counted.

Ginger Lavender-Wilkerson is the Clinical Program Manager coordinating the census work at CII. She said it is crucial for neighborhoods like Watts to receive an accurate count because the census data will determine how funding is distributed for government-funded services like Medi-Cal, CalFresh and housing assistance.

In the past, for example, the Census didn’t necessarily capture all low income people living in large, multi-unit buildings, particularly those living with non-family members or multiple generations occupying a single unit. With five large housing developments and a median household income of $25,000, Watts is considered one of LA’s most challenging areas ahead of the 2020 Census.

With five large housing developments and a median household income of $25,000 per year, Watts is considered one of LA’s most challenging areas ahead of the 2020 Census.

“This project only happens once every 10 years and serves as the official record of who is counted in the United States.  The results will determine how resources will be allocated and who will receive critically important services,” Lavender-Wilkerson said.

Based out of CII’s Watts Campus, Lavender-Wilkerson heads team that includes Deborah Riddle, Senior Community Affairs Specialist, and Raul Aguirre, Community Affairs Specialist.

“We already provide a number of different services in this area – early childhood education, behavioral health and family supports — so we are uniquely qualified to coordinate outreach efforts,” Riddle said. “We are really focused on making sure kids are counted because one day they may need these services.”

Raul Aguirre, Community Affairs Specialist, will handle the face-to-face outreach by relying on contacts he has made through outreach work in and around Watts.

Riddle said CII will lean on its established network in South LA to hold 18 workshops with community members and make 500 attempts to engage residents in areas that are considered hard to count in and around Watts. The CII outreach team will also partner with US Census officials to create a self-service kiosk where residents can get information on how to register.

Aguirre, who works directly with families in Watts, will handle the face-to-face outreach by relying on his contacts living in housing developments. Census work is not new to Aguirre, who worked on Skid Row to count downtown LA’s homeless population for the last Census.

“Making sure census work is done accurately will help more children have access to important programs like Head Start,” he said. “These are the families I support every day, and I know how crucial these services are to their futures.”

CII has already started planning census outreach strategies and will start officially working with the community between February and May of this year.

Upcoming Census Meetings

• February 21^st – 6:30-7:30 pm
  Project Fatherhood Meeting
  Nickerson Gardens, 1590 East 114th Street, Los Angeles, California, 90059
• March 5^th – 8:15-9:00 am
  Florence Griffith Joyner: Neighborhood Schools Civic Engagement Meeting
  1963 E 103rd St, Los Angeles, California, 90002

If you would like more information on CII’s Census outreach, please contact Deborah Riddle, Senior Community Affairs Specialist.

Each day, teachers inside Children’s Institute classrooms arrange a spread of fruit, vegetables and other healthy foods for preschool children to eat together as they break from a busy day of learning and playing. What may seem like a routine scene is actually a central program to CII that addresses the food challenges families in South Los Angeles face by promoting basic food education while also promoting affordable and healthy meal plans for families facing food insecurity.

For decades, South LA families have been eating too much processed and fast food that is often cheap, but lacks important nutrients. As a result, residents report significantly higher rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease compared to other parts of the city. Understanding the importance of a well-balanced diet, CII operates a nutrition program that is poised to expand healthy habits to thousands of families in 2020.

Having only one staff member six years ago, CII now has a team of four nutrition specialists led by Karissa Yu, Registered Dietitian. “We aim to empower parents to be agents of change in the home, prepare nutritious meals and instill good eating habits,” Yu said.

The nutrition program operates at each of CII’s 28 early childhood education sites where team members develop curriculum that introduces students to fruits and vegetables while showing them that nutritious foods can taste good and help them grow into people like their sports idols.

Julie Miranda, a Nutrition Specialist on Yu’s team, said visiting classrooms allow the team to also conduct health assessments. For children registering overweight or having high blood pressure, the team schedules time with family members to make recommendations on healthy meal plans.

Miranda said that eating habits are often influenced by generational routines along with what foods they can afford. So while grocery stores in South LA have increased the availability of fresh food, food education is key to eating healthier.

“A lot of our families come from generations of knowing only one way to cook and our school systems haven’t prioritized nutrition until recently so there’s a lot we can teach families,” Miranda said.

The team recommend nutritious family meals that are under $10 by keeping a list of affordable in-season items that are hardier and can keep kids full. The nutrition team also partners with organizations that address food insecurity and alert families when food is available for reduced prices or free.

“We want families to know there is support out there for them, because we know they want to support their own kids in healthy habits if given the right opportunities,” Miranda said.

CII has been able to build the nutrition program thanks to funding from groups like the Herbalife Nutrition Foundation. In addition to supporting the nutrition team, the foundation helps children gain hands on experience with growing vegetables and helps fund an annual nutrition fair for families.

“Our long-standing relationship with CII is built on our shared vision of a world where everyone has access to quality food and nutrition,” said Jenny Perez, Executive Director of the Herbalife Nutrition Foundation. “Partnerships with impactful community partners like CII is central to our focus of providing access to healthy foods, improving nutrition education, identifying sustainable food resources and raising awareness of the global crisis.”

If you are interested in supporting CII’s nutrition program through a donation or volunteer opportunity, please contact Soleil Delgadillo, Volunteer & Community Engagement Manager, here.