CAMARILLO — Destino: The Hispanic Legacy Fund, an initiative of the Ventura County Community Foundation, awarded a total of $72,000 to five nonprofit organizations at the 2013 Destino Grant Awards Reception earlier this month, the organization reported Wednesday.
The Destino Advisory Council has focused its last two grant cycles on college preparation for Latino youth in Ventura County.
“The mission of Destino is to provide resources to address the needs of the local Latino community,” said Hank Lacayo, a VCCF board member and co-chair of the Destino committee. “By investing in programs that support students, along with awarding financial aid from the Destino scholarship fund, the Hispanic community will flourish from the contributions of its well-educated young people.”
An estimated 1,062 Ventura County Latino youth and their parents will benefit from the grants. Moorpark Unified School District’s AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program anticipates assisting 192 students with tutoring, workshops and college tours through its Project College Bound.
The district is a repeat grantee, due to the previous success of the AVID program.
“If it wasn’t for AVID, I wouldn’t be at a four-year university,” said AVID alumnus Giovanni Rosales of Moorpark. “The program helped me find resources I can use to my advantage. You really become knowledgeable about universities —- that is what they are setting you up for.”
Rosales now attends California State University, Northridge, as a freshman.
“I can actually see the difference between an AVID student and a regular student because you see that motivation and determination to be successful,” he said.
Destino’s grantmaking focus addresses the achievement gap between Latino students and their peers, Lacayo said. According the Ventura County Civic Alliance State of the Region Report, 39 percent of non-Hispanic white juniors in the county passed the English portion of the Early Assessment Program Exam, which measures students’ readiness for California State University curriculum, while 13 percent of Hispanic juniors passed. In the math section, 19 percent of non-Hispanic whites passed the test compared to 7 percent of Hispanic juniors.
“There are a number of factors that could have produced these results —- too little support from the home as well as comprehension difficulties,” Lacayo said. “These grantees are the key to addressing the needs of students and putting them of the path to success.”
These are the 2013 Destino grantees:
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County —- $12,000 for the “Mentoring for College Success,” to provide Latino high school students with weekly activities that will support their efforts to succeed through increased college preparedness.
- El Centrito Family Learning Centers —- $10,000 to support the “Padres Promotores de Educación Project” to engage Spanish-speaking parents through peer education that builds knowledge about the requirements and pathways to higher education.
- El Concilio Family Services —- $24,000 to support the “Youth for Success-Independent Living Program,” a comprehensive youth leadership program for foster youth to place them on an educational pathway to reach their goal of college graduation.
- Many Mansions —- $6,000 to support “Sin Limitaciones,” an extension of the Career Preparations program that will target Latino youth currently in Many Mansion programs.
- Moorpark Unified School District —- $20,000 to support “Project College Bound,” a component of Moorpark High School’s AVID program, which serves Latino students who show academic potential and who will be first in their family to attend a university.
Destino will award grants again in 2015.
For more information about the Destino Fund at VCCF, contact Linda Garcia at (805) 330-6678 or lgarcia@vccf.org or go to vccf.org.
ABOUT DESTINO: THE HISPANIC LEGACY FUND:
Destino: The Hispanic Legacy Fund was established in 1996 by 15 local residents as a permanent endowment at VCCF. Its mission is to expand opportunities for Latino youth to succeed, which it supports both through grantmaking and raising funds for the Destino Scholarship Fund. Since its founding, Destino has awarded 119 grants totaling over $910,000 to 46 nonprofit organizations.
ABOUT VCCF:
Celebrating its 25th year, VCCF invests the charitable capital that drives the philanthropic engines of Ventura County. Its portfolio performance ranks in the top 11 of all community foundations in the United States for long-term growth. With total assets of more than $126 million, as of June 30, its mission is to promote and enable philanthropy to improve our community for good for ever, which it does through grantmaking, scholarships and training at its Center for Nonprofit Leadership. It owns the VCCF Nonprofit Center in Camarillo —- a place where nonprofits and the community can come together to work together. Visit vccf.org or call (805) 988-0196