Christopher Gil
Associate Director of Marketing and Communications
Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA)
(415) 282-3334 ext. 152
cgil@medasf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mission Economic Development Agency Chosen for Three-Year Leadership Grant by new Bay Area Funding Initiative, All In For Kids, to Interrupt Childhood Trauma and Advance Equity Through Community-Centered Solutions
MEDA will create breakthrough, transformative and community-resonant strategies that will help positively shape the Bay Area’s future
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 5, 2021 — The Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) announced today the award of innovative new grant funding to help kids and families who are disproportionately affected by trauma and adversity. MEDA will receive $600,000 over the course of three years to participate in this exciting Bay Area learning collaborative.
Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, and Blue Shield of California Foundation have joined Futures Without Violence and First 5 Sonoma County to create All In For Kids, a new grantmaking initiative that seeks to reimagine how early childhood support systems can interrupt childhood trauma and adversity, prevent domestic violence and advance equity through co-design with communities.
MEDA is one of eight Bay Area partnerships selected. The Mission Promise Neighborhood Early Learning Network partners are: Felton Institute; Good Samaritan Family Resource Center; Instituto Familiar de la Raza; Mission Neighborhood Centers, Inc.; Support for Families of Children with Disabilities; and Tandem, Partners in Early Learning.
“This vital All in for Kids funding will afford our nonprofit and our community-based partners the ability to advocate for the institutionalization of the Mission Promise Neighborhood (MPN) model,” said MEDA Director of Development and Communications Lucy Porras. “The MPN community anti-poverty education initiative, for which MEDA serves as a backbone agency, has a track record of success over the past nine years, and that momentum must continue.”
All In For Kids focuses on young children (birth to five years of age), along with their families and caregivers, with an investment in transformative, community-led solutions. All In For Kids centers families and their lived experience in its work to advance long-term policy development. This pioneering program seeds local collaborations throughout the Bay Area with a focus on preventing childhood adversity and domestic violence in the first place. To date, over $6.5 million in seed capital has been raised.
See the full list of project descriptions here.
In California, one in seven children experience trauma before the age of five — and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated this critical public health issue and disproportionately affected communities of color. Nearly 18 % of children in the U.S. are exposed to domestic violence, equating to more than 13 million kids whose formative years are shaped by family violence. Research has shown that prolonged exposure to stress and trauma, such as abuse, neglect, violence and racism, can harm children’s developing brains and bodies and lead to higher rates of illnesses later in life (like cancer, stroke, heart disease and Alzheimer’s). The effects of trauma on children also translate to long-term public health consequences and limit the potential of future generations.
Each of the All In For Kids local collaboratives will become pilot initiatives to test seamless and integrated services to families to take a preventative, long-term approach to treat and heal root causes of trauma, health adversity, domestic violence and toxic stress. This model will also help to reduce childhood poverty and to prepare a generation of strong families, and healthy and stable communities, and aims to serve as a learning and innovation hub for the nation and the state.
“The shared trauma of COVID-19 has exacerbated the deep inequities already experienced by kids and families of color,” said Rajni Dronamraju, Senior Director of Charitable Giving at Genentech. “Our goal with All In For Kids is to advance the most promising and innovative solutions that help low-income children — and their caregivers — heal and thrive.”
“All In For Kids brings together the experiences of families with the systems that support them through community collaboratives and policy coalitions that work to break the multigenerational cycle of violence. We must reduce childhood exposure to domestic violence by focusing on opportunities for healing and prevention,” said Debbie Chang, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Shield of California Foundation.
Learn more at AllinForKidsCA.org.
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About Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA)
Rooted in San Francisco’s Mission District, MEDA is advancing a national equity movement by building Latino prosperity, community ownership and civic power. We envision generations of Latino families choosing where to call home, thriving economically, succeeding in learning opportunities, and leading policy and social change toward a more equitable society.
medasf.org
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Photo: Jakayla Toney on Unsplash.com.
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