El Centro de Amistad Receives $150,000 Grant

El Centro de Amistad (ECDA), a San Fernando mental health agency, received a $150,000 grant from Weingart Foundation, which supports nonprofits to more effectively serve the underserved.

The grant will fund the cost of developing a real estate plan, identifying new facilities, assessing community needs, and expansion costs, to increase services in new cities within the agency’s service area in San Fernando Valley. In addition, the grant will fund board of directors training, including the development of a fundraising policy to increase its effectiveness in fundraising.

“With support from Weingart Foundation, El Centro de Amistad is able to strengthen our organizational capacity,” said Tamika Farr, ECDA executive director. “We have many needs in the San Fernando Valley, and grants like these help us to continue providing quality, essential mental health services to children, families, and individuals.”

Throughout its 42 years in this community, El Centro de Amistad has served more than 110,000 individuals, empowering the lives of children, families and individuals for a better tomorrow. With support from its multilingual and cross-cultural staff, they serve 1,500 children, adults and families annually. The agency’s goals are to reduce risk factors that lead to violence, school failure, gang affiliation, and child abuse. When treating adults, the goals are to curb debilitating behaviors, assist in enhancing self-sufficiency, and resolve issues that are barriers to employment.

In partnerships with Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Mental Health, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, ECDA is able to provide the contractual counseling and mental health services to its clients. The mental health programs and services provided by the agency range from adult and children outpatient services and CalWORKS to reduce mental health barriers towards employment, to case management, school-linked programs, and prevention and early intervention, among others.

Visit www.ecda.org to learn more about ECDA’s services and programs.

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