Margie & Robert E. Petersen Foundation Awards United Friends of the Children with $1 Million Grant

    LOS ANGELES, CA, January 13, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- United Friend of the Children (UFC) received a $1 million grant from the Margie & Robert E. Petersen Foundation to support over 150 Los Angeles-based foster youth become healthy, self-sustaining adults through its Pathways to Independence program.

The Pathways to Independence Program offers foster youth a full spectrum of support that includes housing, educational mentoring and assistance, career/vocational counseling and development, life skills training, health education and mental health services, all aimed at increasing self-sufficiency. Foster youth are in the program for 18 to 36 months.

"We are proud of the work we do in Los Angeles County to support one of the most vulnerable populations in our community, foster youth. And with generous partners like the Margie & Robert E. Petersen Foundation, we can continue to be a leader in providing positive outcomes for foster youth," said Kara Allen Soldati, president and chief executive officer of United Friends of the Children.

ABOUT UNITED FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN
United Friends of the Children (UFC) has been an integral part of the Los Angeles foster care community since it was founded in 1979 by the late Nancy M. Daly. UFC currently serves more than 1,400 foster youth in LA County each year through three core programs, which are broadly focused in two areas - Education and Housing. The College Readiness Program provides academic preparation and other forms of support over a six-year period to help students in grades 7-12 graduate from high school and go on to college. The College Sponsorship Program provides students with financial and emotional support to attend and graduate from four-year colleges. The Pathways to Independence Program is a service-enriched housing program that provides recently emancipated foster youth (18-24 years old) with quality housing and supportive services in a program model that requires increasing levels of personal responsibility and initiative. UFC is an action driven thought-leader that shares its knowledge and experience to influence policy decisions and is a frequent resource to other stakeholders locally and nationally. For more information, please visit www.UnitedFriends.org.

Media Contact: Jarryd Gonzales
Phone: 714-504-2445
Email: [email protected]

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