The Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee continues to assist marginalized communities by granting six organizations $50,000 each. The organizations are a part of the 56 Champions of the Super Bowl LVI Legacy Program.
The organizations earning the awards are Jovenes, 2nd Call, Angel City Sports, Loving Hands, Our Own Inc, and Project Blue. These organizations represent various groups throughout Los Angeles.
Jovenes is a Boyle Heights-based organization that helps young adults who live with homelessness. They work on getting youth their education as well as employment, healthcare, and trauma recovery.
“Jovenes’ mission is to help youth who are experiencing homelessness become active and integrated members of our community,” said Jovenes director of development and strategic partnerships Eric Hubbard. “We provide a wide range of housing and supportive services that are designed to help youth get off the streets into a safe and stable place.”
Volunteers take time to get to know the youth and provide them resources. Hubbard saw this award as a sign that the organization’s work is necessary.
“Jovenes needs the support of the L.A. community,” Hubbard said. “We want to make sure that we can wrap our youth with the love the community has for them.”
Angel City Sports provides adaptive sports clinics for people with physical disabilities. The organization started by hosting an annual weekend of adaptive sports clinics and competitions called the Angel City Games. Now they offer year-round events and started two sports teams.
“What’s really important for us is creating a safe, fun path for new athletes,” said Angel City Sports founder and CEO Clayton Frech. “One of the most satisfying parts of my job, probably the core motivation for my staff and my volunteers is finding and helping that new athlete get comfortable in this world.”
The 2nd Call organization offers classes for people that have been released from prison. Along with providing a safe space to humanize the people they serve, they offer domestic violence, parenting, anger management, and re-entry programs. 2nd Call stands for second chance at loving life and they are located in South Central.
“Where we are now it was a juvenile courthouse that was used to send our children to youth authority,” said 2nd Call executive director Skipp Townsend. “Now, this building on 76th and Central is bringing the youth together.”
Loving Hands Community Care helps families who are enduring trauma or have lost children to gang violence in the Los Angeles area. They provide programming for siblings of murder victims, mentoring for at-risk youth, resources to battle homelessness and grief support groups.
“I was encouraged to do something for the community for healing,” said Loving Hands executive director Kathy Wooten. “The goal was to bridge the gap between rival communities, to bring safety and awareness, to bring those rival gangs to a healing process.”
Our Own offers resources centered around entrepreneurship, nutrition, mental health, and physical fitness. They started the STEAM and Mentorship program and have programming that includes yoga and maternal health.
“Our Own is a nonprofit focused on dismantling barriers in education, nutrition, and health and wellness,” said Our Own co-founder and treasurer Lee Johnson. “Every single dollar that comes in, it’s going to the people.”
Project Blue works to improve the relationship between citizens and law enforcement through youth programming. The organization helps police officers learn about the communities they serve and builds trust with their residents.
“We work with various youth programs that already exists within the community,” said Project Blue executive director Marc Maye. “So when we received the news from the LA Super Bowl host committee and the NFL, I was surprised. It was my first grant within Project Blue.”
