The Margie & Robert E. Petersen Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to Hillsides for at-risk teens and young adults. It is the largest grant ever received in the foster care charity’s 104-year history.
The grant will be used to support more than 1,400 teens and young adults ages 16 to 24 who are in transition from the foster care system. Hillsides manages five core programs: Bienvenidos Foster Care and Adoptions provides home-based family care services; Hillsides Education Center is a nationally accredited therapeutic, non-public residential and day school; family resource centers offer community-based mental health services; residential treatment services are provided for children who are in foster care or cannot live at home for other reasons; and Youth Moving On offers housing services, workforce development and a peer resource drop-in center for transition-aged teens and young adults.
“We are overjoyed and incredibly appreciative of this historic gift that will allow us to provide a much-needed continuum of care for this vulnerable population,” said Joseph M. Costa, president and CEO of Hillsides.
In recognition of the grant, Hillsides will name its newest building the Margie & Robert E. Petersen Student Center. The 34,000-square-foot building, currently under construction on the main campus in Pasadena, will include art and music studios, a large indoor gym and recreation room, modernized kitchen and spacious dining commons, all built above an underground parking structure. It is part of a $17.1 million capital improvement project that will update and reimagine the campus. Construction is expected to be completed in December 2018.
For more information about Hillsides, visit www.hillsides.org.
