 August 2015 |
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Catalyst Team
Ravi Shah
Senior Program Associate
Lauren Kay
Director of Communications |
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From the Desk of Paul Vandeventer
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After a brief summer hiatus, Paul's monthly message will return with September's issue of The Catalyst.
 Multicultural Communities for Mobility, a project of Community partners, was selected for a Great Streets challenge grant for a community improvement project they've proposed for Boyle Heights. Learn more about this initiative here. And see below for more news from our projects.
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Project in the Spotlight
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Urban Possibilities: Giving Skid Row a Voice
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Eyvette Jones-Johnson surrounded by recent graduates of her writing empowerment program.
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On a recent summer night in downtown Los Angeles, 12 women and 4 men took the stage at Inner city Arts to share their original pieces of writing and poetry, inspiring audience members with powerful stories of challenges overcome. Though all are homeless or low-income-- abuse victims, ex-offenders, former addicts -- on this night they are instead compelling speakers whose voices carry strength, resilience and possibility.
This was the fifth graduating class of a transformative writing empowerment program offered by Urban Possibilities, a project of Community Partners since 2004.
"In LA's Skid Row, we've found a sea of untapped potential, waiting to be set free," said Eyvette Jones-Johnson, a former TV producer who co-founded the program with her husband, Craig Johnson. "Our mission is to support that work, helping students recover self-esteem that has often hit rock bottom, building resilience and seeing with new eyes the beauty they have to offer the world." LA's Skid Row currently contains one of the largest populations of homeless people in the United States, with numbers estimated at 3,000 to 6,000, at a given time.
Urban Possibilities is a multi-dimensional program that uses the tools of theatre, spoken word and writing to harness the power of story as a tool for empowerment. At the core of their work is the 12-week writing empowerment program they offer in partnership with Chrysalis, an LA nonprofit that helps homeless and low-income individuals find jobs.
The power and impact of UP's work is evident to anyone who has an opportunity to witness the performances, and their work drives home the message that the homeless community cannot be categorized by one simple label -- no two stories are identical, and their circumstances do not define who they are as people. "We drive right by, we step over them," says a gentleman who was at the show that night, "but we don't recognize the power and potential of the people that are here. It was very moving to see what they have accomplished. I am inspired."
By Ama Peiris, Cornuelle Summer Fellow, Occidental College '16 |
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Projects in the News
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Days of Dialogue kicked off a city-wide series of discussions on the "Future of Policing" with a webcasted event at Community Partners' offices on Aug. 11. With sponsorship support from Time Warner Cable, the panel discussion was moderated by LA Times columnist Sandy Banks and featured Avis Ridley-Thomas, Days of Dialogue; Raph Sonenshein, Pat Brown Institute; John Mack, among others.
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'Code can save lives,' offers Urban TxT project leader Oscar Menjivar in this piece about a youth 'hackathon' the group held recently in a South LA housing project. Menjivar also joined a KPCC-hosted panel discussion marking the 50th anniversary of the Watts' Rebellions this month.
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A group of veterans from the Mindful Warrior Project 'got the red carpet treatment' when they paid a visit recently to the historic downtown Central Library. Read more about this Cal Humanities-supported reading and discussion group for veterans at a transitional housing facility in Los Angeles.
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Determined to Succeed, which supports low-income middle- and high school students on their journey toward college, is the featured story on the National Partnership for Education Access website. Read about their approach (comprehensive education and social-emotional support), some lessons learned, and their celebrity co-founder (read!).
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New Projects
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Provides clear standards and strategic support to empower major institutions to procure local, sustainable, fair and humanely produced foods, while improving access to healthy, high-quality food for all communities. An off-shoot of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, a project of Community Partners.
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Teaches youth ages 8-16 coding and inspires them to create with technology at safe, fun events called Dojos.
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Reduces and prevents community violence, making poor neighborhoods safer so that children can learn, families can thrive and communities can prosper. A former program of The Advancement Project.
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Events and Learning Opportunities
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For Grace, a project of Community Partners, is hosting its 8th annual Women in Pain Conference at the California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities. The 2015 theme, "Transform Pain into Strength: The Power of the Comeback," will explore resilience and discover the necessary tools needed to turn the challenge of chronic pain into a story of victory and perseverance. A select number of free passes are available for women in pain and their caregivers.
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2016 Cross Sector Leadership Fellowship
Final Deadline: Friday, September 27
The Presidio Institute is looking for Cross Sector Leadership Fellows from a pool of mid-career professionals working across business, nonprofit, philanthropic, academic, and government sectors. Cross-sector leadership is the work of building alliances of individuals working within and across sectors that together have a role in solving a problem and achieving a shared goal.
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From the Field
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| Latest LA2050 Report
LA2050's latest report, Vision for a Successful Los Angeles, provides the history, context, recent developments, and next steps for LA2050.
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Twitter has been the place online to start social movements and spur change. Learn how other nonprofits are using images for more effective calls-to-action on Twitter.
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About Us
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Community Partners offers expert guidance, essential services, and a strong dose of passion to help foster, launch and grow creative solutions to community challenges.
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1000 N Alameda St, Suite 240
Los Angeles, CA 90012 | Phone 213.346.3210
Fax 213.808.1009 | info@CommunityPartners.org |
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Image credits
Urban Possibilities by Craig Johnson
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