Here’s a Children’s Health Funder That L.A. County Nonprofits Should Know About

There are over 300 funds of the Pasadena Community Foundation established by local families, individuals and companies. And while lots of the grants flowing from those funds stay in the city of Pasadena, support sometimes extends to nearby communities throughout Los Angeles County, as well. That's certainly true of one particular fund—the Pasadena Child Health Foundation (PCHF), which recently announced its new grantees for the year.

Four Focus Areas

Although this funder is exclusively devoted to local children’s causes, it breaks it support up into four categories:

Promoting Healthy Early Childhood Development – “Optimizing physical, cognitive, and emotional development during pregnancy and throughout the first five years of life”
Strengthening Family and Community Connections – “Enhancing protective factors and social connections that serve as a critical platform for healthy behaviors and development”
Healthy Weight – “Helping children maintain a healthy weight, combat obesity, and boost self-esteem”
Access to Health Benefits and Services – “Removing barriers to enrolling in and utilizing publicly and privately funded healthcare and related programs and services”

But across all of these categories, prevention and early intervention are at the heart of how this funder operates. PCHF is also a funder that looks for collaborative efforts and ways to leverage existing resources.

Grantees and Amounts

In the most recent round of giving, the new grants were all between $10,000 and $25,000 each, bringing the current yearly total up to about $152,000. Be advised that grant requests to this foundation should not exceed $25,000 for any purpose. Since 1992, PCHF has given over $6.8 million in local grants to assist children.

The bulk of recent PCHF grantees have already received the funder’s support in the past. Multiple grants and ongoing support are granted to groups like the Flintridge Center, Foothill Family, and Girls on the Run L.A. County. However, new and previously unaffiliated groups have a chance, here, as well. One such first-time grantee is AbilityFirst, which received $10,000 for an after-school program for kids with disabilities.

Geographical Boundaries

PCHF keeps its support for children who attend school and live in the Greater Pasadena area, including Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre and unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County. The key word here is “unincorporated.”

To learn more about this funder, check out IP’s full profile of the Pasadena Child Health Foundation. A list of other Pasadena Community Foundation funds can be viewed here.