Palo Alto Rotary - Community Grants - Previous Grant Recipients

Cleo Eulau Center - The Cleo Eulau Center (415 Cambridge Avenue #21, Palo Alto, CA 94036 650/328-2380) helps children and adolescents develop their capacity to rebound from hardship and adversity and grow to become caring and competent adults. Its Community and Court School Collaborative Counseling Program provides one-to-one and group counseling to youth who are on probation and at-risk for re-offending and becoming part of an escalating cycle of crime. Cleo Eulau Center

Palo Alto Rotary Charities has granted $5,000 to fund the weekly clinical supervision and expert training of the Doctor of Psychology interns who provide the therapy at the Court and Community School Collaborative Counseling Program.

Friends of Palo Alto Parks - Palo Alto's parks have a new and special friend -- a nonprofit group called Friends of the Palo Alto Parks. Organized in 2004 by Roger Smith and Jagdish Basi, Friends of the Palo Alto Parks is dedicated to fostering greater public awareness of Palo Alto's 30-plus parks and open spaces and to raising money to enrich and beautify these local treasures. Basi is president of the group. The seven-person Board meets monthly.

Palo Alto Charities has granted $10,000 to be used for the fabrication and installation of new educational exhibits for the recently constructed Arastradero Gateway Nature Center. The exhibits will orient park visitors to the unique plants, animals and natural history of the Preserve. Exhibits will provide an opportunity for children and families to learn about and explore the incredible resources of our foothills.

Friends of the Palo Alto Children's Theatre - Palo Alto Children's Theatre, Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301
The Children's Theatre program serves children and young adults ages four to twenty four years. Throughout the past 75 years, the Theatre has provided programs for audiences and participants including radio, television, film, and video as each became a special interest. Guests and scholars from around the world have been welcomed and told about the Theatre. It is included in the textbooks and history books on Children's Theatre in America and in 1998 the Children's Theatre programs were the subject of a Doctoral Dissertation by Bryna Rifkind through New York University. City of Palo Alto - Children's Theatre

The Friends of the Palo Alto Children's Theatre supports the Theatre through volunteer efforts, fundraising and publicity. Successful projects include building a library, a rehearsal hall, and the outdoor performance area known as the Roy A. Ginsberg Memorial Stage. Recently, the Friend funded a new audio/visual monitoring system, a video lab, a brick walkway, and a Rehearsal Hall renovation. The Friends have also hosted many special community celebrations, including the 75th Anniversary of the Children's Theatre. Advocacy helps insure continued funding for Children's theatre so children may continue to benefit from this community treasure.

Palo Alto Charities has granted $2,500 to purchase a new Studio Piano to be used in The Magic Castle at the Palo Alto Children's Theatre. The purchase of the piano is made possible through the institution-only program of Sherman Clay and Company who will be selling the piano at half the normal cost. Rotary thanks Sherman Clay and Company and its Santa Clara Branch for its generosity with special thanks to David Dumont and Tony Thomas for making this possible.

Palo Alto Housing Corporation - Although the City of Palo Alto is a rich community in many ways, the high cost of housing creates a barrier to people of limited income. Many who currently work or have grown up in this community cannot afford to live here. This situation results in the need for low- and moderate-income households to seek housing elsewhere or to pay an unreasonable proportion of their incomes for housing. Thus, there is a great need for more affordable rental and ownership housing units so that overpayment is not such a burden. The availability of affordable housing is central to maintaining community character and diversity. Palo Alto Housing Corporation

The Palo Alto Rotary Charities grant of $7,500 will support an Onsite Wellness Program that will serve elderly and other vulnerable adult residents. The Program will include: monthly advice nurse visits, a podiatry clinic, frequent educational workshops on important health topics such as nutrition and exercise classes that keep seniors active.

East Palo Alto Kids Foundation - The East Palo Alto Kids Foundation (EPAK) supports quality public education in the Ravenswood City School district and serves approximately 4,500 students in East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park. It provides cash grants to teachers in the Ravenswood City School District to accomplish this mission. A private, 501(c)3 non-profit foundation, EPAK is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors, comprising retired Ravenswood teachers and community members dedicated to providing quality education for all students. East Palo Alto Kids Foundation

Palo Alto Charities has granted $7,500 to fund the Language Arts part of the Leveled Reading Program grades K-4 at Brentwood Academy. Books will be purchased and organized in a central place, at the school, and will be accessible for teachers to use in their classrooms. The books will be used both with reading groups and individuals.

Adolescent Counseling Services - Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt community-based nonprofit incorporated in 1975. ACS' mission is to empower teens and their families in our community to realize their emotional and social potential through counseling and preventive education. ACS serves San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties through an On-Campus Counseling Program, which provides on-site individual and group counseling at no cost to students and their families; and the Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program, which provides prevention education in the community as well as intensive outpatient treatment to teens and families struggling with addiction. ACS helped over 2,000 at-risk teens and families find their way last year. Adolescent Counseling Services : Home

Palo Alto Rotary Charities has granted $10,000 to ACS to provide much needed scholarship funds to families struggling with addiction, allowing families healing and hope for long-term sobriety. Both intensive outpatient treatment and professional assessments will be provided for teens and families in need.

Eastside College Preparatory School - Eastside College Preparatory School is committed to opening new doors for students historically underrepresented in higher education. Its challenging and engaging curriculum, from sixth grade through high school, enables students to discover their intellectual strengths, sharpen their academic skills, and embrace new opportunities in a culture of learning that supports the potential of every student to enter and succeed in a four-year college and beyond.

Palo Alto Rotary Charities has granted $7,500 in support of Eastside Prep’s Middle School Reading Program, a literacy program that is a critical component of equipping students with the reading and writing skills they will need to succeed in high school and college.

Foundation for a College Education - Since its founding in 1995, Foundation for a College Education has continued to make significant strides toward helping students of color prepare for college and beyond. By providing families with the tools they need to navigate the college admissions process, FCE is influencing the entire community of East Palo Alto to believe it can gain access to higher education. At the high school level FCE offers academic planning and advising, college counseling, SAT preparation, financial aid guidance, college tours, career programs, and group activities. In college FCE tracks each student’s entire collegiate career, offering ongoing academic, financial aid, and career development support.

Palo Alto Rotary Charities has granted $10,000 to FCE for scholarships to help students who have achieved their goal of admission to a four-year college but who need more financial assistance than is available from the college and other sources

Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education was founded in 1985 by a consortium of San Francisco Bay Area companies in partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California at Berkeley. IISME seeks to transform teaching and learning through industry-education partnerships. It provides teachers with experiences and tools they need to adapt their practices and change their schools so that all students are prepared to be lifelong learners, responsible citizens, and productive employees. IISME exists to address the critical need for a strong, highly-skilled workforce in mathematics, science and technological fields. This industry-education partnership focuses on teachers as the primary agents for effecting meaningful change in mathematics and science education.

Palo Alto Rotary Charities has granted $5,000 to IISME to support participation by eight K-12 public school teachers in East Palo Alto and Palo Alto in the IISME Summer Fellowship Program, an eight-week program allowing math and science teachers to work in industry and to learn new curriculum and teaching strategies.

InnVision is Silicon Valley’s largest provider of housing and services to homeless and at-risk families and individuals. More than 16,000 people are served annually at 20 sites throughout the region. InnVision provides shelter, comprehensive supportive services, and a variety of affordable housing options. Each of the InnVision programs provides an uplifting environment that enables and empowers each client to become self-sufficient – to find the Way Home.

Palo Alto Rotary Charities has granted $10,000 to InnVision to repair one of the two food service trucks serving InnVision’s Emergency Food Program on the Peninsula and to paint both trucks so that they can continue to pick up donated food and deliver it to the Downtown Food Closet in Palo Alto and the Clara-Mateo Alliance shelter in Menlo Park.

MayView Community Health Clinic is a local non-profit organization devoted to providing essential primary health care services to low-income families and individuals who live and work in the northern part of Santa Clara County and the southernmost part of San Mateo County, providing general medical and preventative care to children and adults, special programs, family planning and comprehensive perinatal services. The physicians at MayView practice family-based primary care, with the capacity to deal with more complex health problems, chronic illnesses and participation in mandated managed care programs.

Palo Alto Rotary Charities has granted $7,500 to MayView Community Health Clinic to support free tuberculosis screening and treatment for the high risk immigrant population served at the MayView Clinic in Palo Alto.

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Charitable Grant Receipients Part 1 Charitable Grant Receipients Part 2