CSU Northridge and Valley-based organizations were among the recipients of Bank of America grants that targeted 152 community organizations across Southern California. In total, $4 million was given.
The amount of the CSUN grant was not disclosed, but other organizations in the San Fernando Valley received nearly $250,000 from the bank’s first round of contributions this year.
One of those organizations included Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission, which provides services through meals, healthcare referrals, shelter and showers for homeless and marginalized people. There were about 9,000 unhoused people in the San Fernando Valley in 2021 according to a Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority report.
“With [Bank of America’s] grant, we were able to purchase a much-needed van that is used every day by our Outreach and Engagement teams to transport them to homeless encampments in the Valley where they care for people in need,” Ken Craft, founder and chief executive of the rescue mission, said in a statement. “The van is also used to transport unsheltered people living in encampments to our various homeless and housing facilities.”
Other grants were given to organizations in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. More rounds of funding are to come throughout the year, according to a statement from Bank of America.