Prior Grants

Over the past eighteen years, Karisma Foundation has funded a variety of agencies with grants totaling more than $8.8M.  Below are some of the agencies that have been funded previously by Karisma Foundation.

www.eyecareproject.com
Initial Grant: 2005
Cumulative Grant Amounts Through 2008: $150,000

The mission of the Armenian EyeCare Project is to eliminate avoidable blindness and to provide eye care for all Armenians in need.

Roger Ohanesian, M.D., a Laguna Beach, California ophthalmologist, made his first visit to Armenia in 1992, and subsequently founded the Armenian Eye Care Project (AECP). Every year since, American ophthalmologists and reconstructive surgeons have traveled to Armenia twice a year, at their own expense, to bring hope and eye care to a people who view the American doctors as their last chance for sight.

www.bgchollwood.com
Initial Grant: 2005
Cumulative Grant Amounts Through 2008: $150,000

The goal of the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood is to provide every child with the essential tools needed for a successful and bright future. Since 1937, the vision of The Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood has grown and changed with the needs of our children and their families. As the needs continue to change, so will the dynamics of our programs and services.

The Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood contributes to the future of its community by enriching the lives of youth. It provides students with an array of learning opportunities, including academic enrichment, computer literacy, and artistic programs focused on fine arts. In addition, it works to improve all aspects of a child’s life by making them confident, healthy, and well-socialized individuals through focus on health, fitness, and social emotional development.

www.childrenofthenight.org
Initial Grant: 2005
Cumulative Grant Amounts Through 2013: $400,000

Children of the Night is a privately funded non-profit organization established in 1979 and dedicated to rescuing America's children from the ravages of prostitution.

The Children of the Night home is open to child prostitutes throughout the United States, and the Children of the Night hotline is ready and able to rescue these children 24 hours a day. We provide free taxi/airline transportation nationwide for America's child prostitutes who wish to escape prostitution and live in our home. Our hotline staff works closely with law enforcement to rescue children from vile, dominating pimps.

Our home features an on-site school and college placement program. After youngsters complete our rigorous and comprehensive program of academic and life-skills education, caseworkers are available to provide ongoing case management to hundreds of graduates.

www.fulfillment.org
Initial Grant: 2005
Cumulative Grant Amounts Through 2013: $450,000

The Fulfillment Fund works to make college a reality for students growing up in educationally and economically under-resourced communities. To this end, its services build pathways to college, help students navigate educational barriers, create life-changing support networks, and empower future leaders.

Its partnerships with local schools allow the Fulfillment Fund to bring our forward-thinking, high quality, individualized programs to the first-generation and lower-income students who need us most. Each step of the way, its program gives these future leaders the tools they need to not only access and afford higher education, but graduate college successfully while building invaluable life skills.

The Fulfillment Fund effect is real. Last year, 100% of our high school students graduated. Of these promising students, 95% went on to enroll in college as compared to 67% of students from low-income communities nationally (National Center for Education Statistics).

Everything this organization does comes down to one powerful vision: That all students, regardless of their circumstances, will one day have the opportunity to attend college, graduate and actively participate in transforming their communities to create a better society.

www.nhm.org
Initial Grant: 2008
Cumulative Grant Amounts Through 2017: $225,000

The mission of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is to inspire wonder, discovery and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds.

The NHM has amassed one of the world's most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history - more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. Its curatorial staff not only cares for those collections, but uses them for groundbreaking scientific and historic research. The museum also curates new, immersive exhibitions that give visitors the opportunity to explore the "big picture" of our planet - specimens and objects, the stories behind them, and the increasing interrelatedness of the natural and cultural worlds.

www.thehelpgroup.org
Initial Grant: 2005
Cumulative Grant Amounts Through 2008: $150,000

Founded in 1975, The Help Group is the largest, most innovative and
comprehensive nonprofit of its kind in the United States serving children with special needs related to autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, ADHD, developmental delays, abuse and emotional problems.

The Help Group’s ten specialized day schools offer pre-K through high school programs for more than 1,550 students. Its broad range of mental health and therapy services, child abuse and residential programs extends its reach to more than 6,000 children and their families each year. With more than 980 staff members, The Help Group’s state-of-the-art schools and programs are located on seven campuses in the Los Angeles area.

The Help Group is widely regarded for its high standards of excellence, unique scope and breadth of services. Through its public awareness, professional training and parent education programs and efforts at the state and national levels, The Help Group touches the lives of children with special needs across the country and in other parts of the world. At the heart of its efforts is the commitment to helping young people fulfill their potential to lead positive, productive and rewarding lives.