On June 4th Imagine LA will be holding The Imagine Ball at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. The Imagine Ball, a benefit concert created by Randall Kaplan and John Terzian, is one of Imagine LA’s major fundraisers.
Imagine LA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to “mobilizing volunteers to end family homelessness in Los Angeles. Imagine LA matches families exiting homelessness with volunteer teams through an innovative volunteer mentorship program. One Team, One Family. Through the consistency of this relationship, trust is built, skills are taught, and barriers are crossed that most families in homelessness never thought were possible.” Because of Imagine LA’s efforts “the cycle of homelessness and poverty is being broken and new relationships and opportunities are being forged for life.”
Since the inception of Imagine LA’s first Family Membership Team in 2008 the program has put together a pretty solid track record. Below are some of the programs very impressive stats:
• 100% of families maintained permanent housing
• 100% of children achieved grade level school proficiency; the majority are excelling
• 100% of high-school aged youth graduated and pursued higher education
• 100% of participants (adults and children) received annual medical and dental exams
• 75% of families increased their household earned income, on average an increase of 67%
About a month ago the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved “a pilot project that will provide intensive mentorship for 10 to 15 Transition-Age Foster Youth (TAYs) with young children for a period of two years after they exit the foster system.” This project will be “operated in partnership with the Department of Children and Family Services and will allow TAY families leaving Extended Foster Care to participate in Imagine LA’s innovative two-year Family Mentoring Program.”
The goal of this pilot program, which is being funded by the ICAN Trust Fund and Southern California Grant Makers, is to “help these young, extremely vulnerable families build relationship skills and connections that empower them to stay together, stay housed, thrive and break their cycle of abuse and neglect.”
When speaking about working with Imagine LA on this new project, Philip Browning, the Director of the Department of Children and Family Services, said “I look forward to entering this contract with Imagine LA. I believe their services will greatly help put our young parents and their children on the path to success.”
This year’s Imagine Ball, which helps to fund programs similar to the one mentioned above, will feature the Madden Brothers, Bad Suns, Brave Native, and beeFOWL. The emcee for the evening will be Omar Miller. This year’s event will not only be a celebration of what Imagine LA has done but it will also be a celebration of things soon to come!
For more information on The Imagine Ball and to purchase tickets check out www.imagineball.org. To stay up to date with all of Imagine LA’s efforts and to see how you can help end the cycle of poverty please visit www.imaginela.org.