A non-profit organization that provides counseling and other services to youngsters who have been traumatized by violence recently got a $6 million gift toward a new headquarters and campus in the Echo Park district northwest of Downtown.
The Children's Institute received the funding from the Otis Booth Foundation, established by the late Franklin Otis Booth Jr., a real estate investor, and great-grandson of Harrison Gray Otis, founder of the Los Angeles Times.
The money is intended to help pay for a three-building, 48,000-square-foot campus near Temple and Alvarado streets, a project that is expected to cost an estimated $20 million. Representatives of the Children's Institute said that the recent $6 million gift brings the total raised for the new facility to $15 million.
Mary Emmons, president and chief executive of the Children's Institute, also said that the gift comes at a time of increasing need for the sorts of programs the non-profit organization provides.
"This extraordinary gift comes at a time when more children than ever are suffering," Emmons said. "We are deeply honored by the Otis Booth Foundation's support, which will help create a safe haven for thousands of children whose lives have been affected by violence."
The proposed facility would be called the Otis Booth Campus and mark an expansion from the Children's Institute's current headquarters at 711 S. New Hampshire Avenue, a location that straddles the boundaries of the Westlake and Koreatown districts west of Downtown.
The proposed new location is at the southern end of Echo Park, adjacent to the Westlake and Historic Filipinotown districts.
The Children's Institute currently serves an estimated 15,000 children and family members and provides training to approximately 6,000 professionals on an annual basis, according to representatives of the organization. The new facility would have the capacity to serve an additional 5,000 children and families a year.
Emmons said that plans call for the campus to include classrooms, therapy rooms, space for performing and visual arts, computer rooms, a cafe and nutrition center, two libraries, a family resource center, health center, teen center, basketball court, and office space.
The new center would be an addition to longstanding efforts by other organizations to provide counseling and various services to youths and families in the immediate area. The non-profit El Centro Del Pueblo has been providing such services to residents of the Echo Park district and nearby areas since 1974, and a number of other social service agencies offer various programs.
The Echo Park, Westlake and Angeleno Heights districts have each seen a number of youngsters killed in gang violence in recent years, including incidents where small children were gunned down by stray bullets. A handful of street gangs operate in the general area, and many residents have long complained about a lack of recreational facilities and programs for youngsters.
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The Children's Institute
Artwork for collage from The Children's Institute
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