The Weingart Foundation has bestowed a $150,000 grant to to El Centro de Amistad to be used to help bridge the funding gap and strengthen the work the nonprofit is doing in the San Fernando Valley.
“Our mental health funding does not give us flexibility in how we provide services,” said Tamika Farr, El Centro de Amistad executive director. “The Weingart Foundation values the work nonprofits do and understands the need to we have to strengthen our infrastructure to create the lasting impact in the community we serve.”
Providing high quality mental health services to under-served communities is central to El Centro de Amistad’s mission. A multilingual, cross-cultural organization, the nonprofit also anticipates the ever-changing needs of families and individuals in the San Fernando Valley.
Bilingual, culturally competent practitioners connect clients to various community resources, helping them “recognize and tap into the strengths within themselves and their families, so that they are empowered to manage their own mental illness and solve their own problems,” said Farr.
The goal is to move adult clients toward employment and children and youth toward success in school and away from gangs. El Centro de Amistad services help participants acquire daily living skills, improve their functioning at school, home, and in the workplace, effectively manage mental health disorders, and build healthy families.
El Centro de Amistad serves more than 750 low-income, primarily Latino children, adults and families in the San Fernando Valley annually at its two clinics in Canoga Park and San Fernando.
To learn more about El Centro de Amistad, visit www.elcentrodeamistad.org.