From Echo Park to Watts to Compton, more Los Angeles families are counting on Children's Institute this year than ever before.
For more than a century, we've shown up where the need is greatestโwith high-quality preschools, healing-centered mental health care, and community hubs that connect families to opportunity. Because every child deserves the chance to thrive, we stay for as long as it takes.
Make a high impact donation with private, personalized guidance.
A leadership gift to Children's Institute does three things at three different speeds. We measure all of them, and we will share all of them with you.
Your gift becomes a same-week intake with a licensed therapist for a child in crisis. A REACH Team of crisis counselors showing up at a family's door the day after a shooting. A foster youth getting paired with the case manager who will walk them to graduation.
Across our programs, a single year of leadership funding produces graduating cohorts and outcomes you can hold in your hand. Project Fatherhood completion. Head Start kindergarten readiness rates.
The children we serve today will be raising children of their own tomorrow. When you help a child heal, learn, and grow, you change what becomes possible not only for them, but for the next generation. This impact doesn't always make headlines. It is also the work that matters most.
"When my son Niko was born, I was filled with love but also fear. As an ambitious single parent with limited support, I worried I would have to give up on my dreams just to make ends meet. Then I found Children's Institute, and that changed everything.
When my son Niko was born, I was filled with love but also fear. As an ambitious single parent with limited support, I worried I would have to give up on my dreams just to make ends meet. Then I found Children's Institute, and that changed everything.
When Niko was three months old, I enrolled him at one of their preschools in Watts. The caregivers welcomed us with warmth and treated Niko as if he were their own.
Our Prenatal Programs help expectant parents build healthy foundations for their growing families through personalized home visits, education, and essential resourcesโensuring babies and caregivers get the strongest possible start from pregnancy through the earliest months of life.
Our Early Childhood Education program gives 1,000 children each year the strong start they deserveโwith high-quality preschools and in-home support that prepare them to succeed in school and in life.
We provide counseling, academic support, enrichment programs, and trauma-informed services that help children succeed in school, build confidence, and strengthen emotional well-being. For many children facing stress at home or in their communities, these programs provide consistency, encouragement, and a safe place to grow.
Our Enhanced Care Management Program connects physical health, mental health, and family resources to help Los Angeles residents navigate complex systems, strengthen resilience, and build the foundation for lifelong health and well-being.
LAUNCH helps current and former LA County foster youth build the confidence, resilience, and practical life skills needed to thrive. Through mental health support, mentorship, and pathways to education, employment, and stable housing, young people are empowered to achieve their goals and successfully transition to independent adulthood.
We strengthen families through parenting classes, mental health support, caregiver resources, and Project Fatherhood โ a nationally recognized program helping fathers become more present, connected, and engaged in their children's lives. By supporting parents and caregivers directly, we help create stronger family relationships and healthier homes where children can thrive.
Donors at the leadership level deserve to know exactly how their gift is spent. So here it is, calculated by Charity Navigator from our most recent IRS Form 990.
For every dollar you give, 81 cents goes directly to the programs that change livesโfrom preschools and mental health services to foster youth support and care coordination. Fourteen cents covers essential operations, including our campuses and infrastructure, and 5 cents helps raise the next dollarโexpanding the reach of your generosity.
My family was devastated after my children's father was diagnosed with cancer. During his bone marrow transplant, Children's Institute changed their service hours to accommodate daily hospital visits. The children received mental health services.
My daughter drew pictures for her dad to make him smile. She even cut off her hair to donate it for wigs for cancer patients.
Private investment made it possible to reimagine our Watts Campus as a collaborative center for opportunity and support. Thanks to a $25.8 million capital campaign, the campus now brings together Children's Institute programs and more than 100 community partners, expanding access to the resources children and families need to reach their full potential.
"A building can tell a kid that we love you. I hope this building will serve and inspire children, families, and this great organization for generations to come."
The Frank Gehry designed Watts Campus opened June 25, 2022.
One building. Approximately 70 partner organizations served.
The Watts Campus is now home to early childhood classrooms, therapy spaces, family support, foster youth services, and a community center that has welcomed roughly seventy partner organizations since opening. It is the largest single investment in family services Watts has seen in a generation.
Celebrating our supporters from our 2024โ2025 fiscal year. These are the leadership partners walking alongside our CII children and families.
The Ballmer Group
Cedars Sinai Medical Center ยท The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
The Aromont Charitable Foundation ยท Dragonfly Therapeutics ยท Les Amies ยท The PNC Foundation ยท QueensCare Charitable Division
Lauren and Chuck Diamond ยท Susan Disney Lord, Roy P. Disney and Abigail Disney ยท Joseph Drown Foundation ยท Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation ยท Great Public Schools Now ยท Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles ยท RAR Family Foundation ยท Michael and Irene Ross Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation ยท Specialty Family Foundation ยท W.M. Keck Foundation
Bel Air Investment Advisors ยท The Fran and Ray Stark Foundation ยท Gallagher Insurance Risk Management ยท In-N-Out Burger Foundation ยท KPMG LLP ยท Lionsgate ยท O'Melveny and Meyers ยท The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation ยท PwC ยท UnitedHealthcare ยท The Walt Disney Company ยท Warner Bros. Television Group ยท Wells Fargo Bank ยท KLM Foundation ยท Cindy and Alan Horn ยท Jamie Alter Lynton and Michael Lynton ยท Sally and Paul R. Kanin ยท Vera R. Campbell Foundation ยท The Ronus Foundation
Plus partners at every level below, anonymous donors who chose privacy, and government funders including the California Department of Education, Los Angeles County agencies, and the federal Department of Health and Human Services. The complete honor roll lives in our 2024โ2025 Annual Report.
Every level below is mapped to a specific program, a measurable outcome, and a recognition option ranging from anonymous to permanently named. We will personalize any of these.
A Classroom Quarter โ Underwrites three months of educational materials, family engagement, and developmental tools at one of our Early Childhood Centers. 91% of children advanced in their development last year.
A Family Crisis Fund โ Underwrites direct family support, therapy, food, transportation, and basic needs for families navigating crisis. This is the work that reshapes service hours when a parent needs daily hospital visits.
A Project Fatherhood Cohort โ Funds one full year of Project Fatherhood circles. Last year 218 fathers completed the program. Your gift carries the next cohort.
A Year of Behavioral Health โ Underwrites one year of trauma-informed behavioral health services. 84% of our clients showed meaningful improvement in wellbeing last year.
A Year of LAUNCH โ Underwrites a full year of our new LAUNCH program for youth in the foster and probation systems. 88% of LAUNCH participants advanced in education or employment last year.
A Named Program Suite โ Names an entire program suite at the campus of your choice and underwrites that program for a multi-year horizon.
This year marks the 120th anniversary of Children's Institute. In 1906, our founder Minnie Barton opened her doors to vulnerable women and single mothers arriving in Los Angeles with nowhere else to turn. Through every decade since, the work has stayed the same: showing up for children and families when they need it most.
Today the strain is deepening. Rising costs, food insecurity, a shrinking safety net, and barriers to healthcare are pushing more people into crisis. The need is greater than it has been in years. It is also more urgent.
Every story on this page began with someone who needed help faster than the system could provide. That is what philanthropy makes possible at Children's Institute: the ability to say yes immediately when a child, parent, or caregiver reaches out.
The donors recognized here have helped build every chapter of our work. The Gehry campus in Watts. Our new Compton centers. LAUNCH. Project Fatherhood. The next chapter will be shaped by those who choose to stand with children and families now.
If this mission aligns with your philanthropic goals this year, we would welcome the chance to speak with you.
With deep gratitude,
Catherine Atack
Chief External Officer
Nine voices from the families, young people, and partners we serve. Every quote below is pulled directly from CII's published 2023โ2024 and 2024โ2025 Annual Reports.
My family was devastated after my children's father was diagnosed with cancer. During his bone marrow transplant, Children's Institute changed their service hours to accommodate daily hospital visits.
We connected the daughter to mental health counseling through Children's Institute and enrolled the mother in a parenting support program. The family had been struggling to find support.
Children's Institute team members are trusted, embedded members of the school community. Students and families gain access to opportunities and programs that can truly change the trajectory of their lives.
Children's Institute has been a safe haven for me and my family. From the moment we walked through the door, we felt cared for.
Every gift moves the work forward. If you would rather skip the conversation and contribute online today, you can do that here. We will follow up with a thank you, not a sales call.
Every leadership gift comes with a written gift agreement specifying how funds will be used, what outcomes you should expect, and how we will report back to you. Charity Navigator independently calculated our 81.41% program expense ratio from our most recent IRS Form 990.
Yes. We honor all requests for anonymity fully and without question.
We work with donors individually. We understand that circumstances change and we will always find a solution together.
Absolutely. We work directly with foundations, donor-advised funds, and estate planners. We provide all documentation needed.
It varies. Some gifts close in days; complex planned gifts may take longer. We move at your pace, not ours.
You receive a written acknowledgment, a gift agreement, and regular updates about the programs your gift supports. Your relationship with CII deepens, not ends.
Working with an advisor or attorney? Many of our largest gifts arrive through a financial advisor, estate planner, or family office. We work directly with your team and provide everything required, from EIN documentation and sample bequest language to wire instructions and audited financials, with the discretion your clients expect.
Founded in 1906, we serve more than thirty thousand children and families a year across Los Angeles County, with campuses in Echo Park, Watts, Compton, and Long Beach.
