Agenda
8:30 am Breakfast with Champions - Join us for an informal networking breakfast with HIP leaders
9:00 am Business Meeting - Updates on HIP and election of new board members
9:15 am Program - "We're Not Bad Kids" - presentation on the youth of skid row
More than 70 million people in the U.S. live below the poverty line, and many of them are children. While poverty cuts across all races and ethnicities, it particularly affects the Latino family. In Los Angeles, hundreds of children are growing up in the toxic environment of downtown Los Angeles’ skid row.
The HIP program will feature video clips of a documentary, ”We’re Not Bad Kids,” directed by 14-year-old Franklin Antonio Arburtha, an Afro-Latino who is a seven-year resident of the Ford SRO Hotel. The video includes interviews with some of the children of skid row and candid glimpses of their squalid living conditions. The video was produced by the United Coalition East Prevention Project.
Join us for a discussion about how The California Wellness Foundation partnered with HOY, the Los Angeles Times-owned Spanish-language newspaper, to inform policy-makers, opinion leaders and the news media about the plight of children living on skid row. At a time when the philanthropic community often steers clear of the P-word [poverty], it is all the more important to explore successful strategies for combating an issue that directly affects our communities.
Featuring:
Zelenne L. Cárdenas, director, United Coalition East Prevention Project
Julio Marcial, communications officer, The California Wellness Foundation
Andrea Carrión, reporter, Hoy Los Angeles
Moderated by Florangela Davila, staff writer, The Seattle Times
About “We’re Not Bad Kids”
“We’re Not Bad Kids,” a documentary produced by 14-year-old Franklin Antonio Arburtha, depicts the living conditions of children living in skid row in Los Angeles. In November 2005, the United Coalition East Prevention Project (UCEPP)—with support from The California Wellness Foundation and Hoy, a Spanish-language newspaper published in Los Angeles—hosted a community forum, "Toxic Playground: Growing up in Skid Row," which featured Franklin’s film. The event garnered significant media coverage, including articles in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily News, La Opinion, and other media outlets, including CNN and KCET, the PBS channel for Southern California. Franklin also appeared on “The Montel Williams Show” and “The Tyra Banks Show” to talk about his video.
In January 2006, after Franklin’s video debuted, the Los Angeles Unified School District passed a resolution, “Access for All,” which mandated that the school district hire five counselors to ensure the identification, enrollment, attendance and success of all homeless students within the district.
In September 2006, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa committed $100 million for permanent housing for the more than 2,000 homeless individuals and families living in transitional housing or emergency shelters in the skid row neighborhood.
In January 2007, Franklin and his sister, Ankara, appeared on the “Today” show with host Meredith Vieira in a six-minute segment, "More homeless families in L.A.," that included Franklin's video.
(*please note, you do not need to be registered for the Council on Foundations conference to attend our meeting. This event is open to all HIP members and prospective members)
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