Harriet H. Samuelsson Foundation Awards $590,000 in Grant Funding to Local Non-Profits

The trustees of the Harriet H. Samuelsson Foundation recently awarded grants totaling $590,000 to 11 local non-profit organizations providing remote and in-person services to youth and adolescents during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  Grants ranged from $10,000 to $150,000, and were allocated as follows:

• $40,000 to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Ventura County for contactless food drop offs, plus virtual and in-person mentoring, support groups, and workshops to assist youth and families coping with toxic stress

• $75,000 to Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo for childcare and virtual learning services for children of essential workers

• $75,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley for SE (social-emotional) skill building for 2,500+ children to assist with overcoming trauma, life difficulties, and conflict

• $150,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme for club upgrades, expanded technology resources, STEAM (Science, Technology, English, Arts, and Math) centers, and sustaining current resources

• $40,000 to CAREGIVERS: Volunteers Assisting the Elderly for matching a teen volunteer with a senior to assist with indoor and outdoor home maintenance, including lawn mowing, window washing, vacuuming, laundry, and home organization

• $50,000 to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to support continuing research in child brain cancer immunotherapy and medicines

• $70,000 to Conejo Free Clinic for free medical, dental, vision, and acne services for 600+ children from low-income families

• $20,000 to Future Leaders of America, Inc., for a year-long project promoting higher education for 120 low-income Latino/a youth via college tours, financial aid sessions, interactions with Latino/a role models, and community involvement

• $15,000 to Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association for free virtual and in-person grief and bereavement counseling services for County youth

• $10,000 to Project Understanding for individualized tutoring at eight centers for 400 struggling, low-income students in grades K-5 throughout Ventura County

• $45,000 to Westminster Free Clinic for their Healthcare Careers Internship Program for 170 low-income Latino/a high school students allowing them to be part of a medical team providing free health services to working poor, uninsured Ventura County residents

Grants are awarded in the spring and fall of each year.  The deadline for letters of interest for Fall 2021 grants is September 30, 2021.  For more information about the Harriet H. Samuelsson Foundation, including instructions on how to apply for a grant, please visit the Foundation’s website at www.samuelssonfoundation.org. 

The Harriet H. Samuelsson Foundation was established in 2005 upon the death of Harriet H. Samuelsson, an Oxnard philanthropist, at age 96.  The Foundation awards over $1 million in grants each year to organizations providing services for the health, education, guidance, or welfare of children under the age of 18 residing in Ventura County, or to organizations conducting cancer research.