The Real Medicine Foundation: Responding to Immediate Healthcare Needs

Founded in May 2005, the Real Medicine Foundation was a result of the knowledge people had gained from working with the Southeast Asian Tsunami relief. Combining humanitarian support to people living in poverty and creating sustainable programs, the Real Medicine Foundation is based on focusing on a personal approach to medicine. People are seen as a whole, not just an ailment, and long-term, sustainable solutions are a result of that outlook.

Then and Now: Southeast Asia in 2004 and Japan in 2011

As little as 6 years separate the tragic tsunamis that hit Southeast Asia in 2004 and Japan in 2011. Gigantic earthquakes struck out at sea prompting huge tsunamis that wiped out entire cities.

On December 26, 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami was brought on by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake which was the third largest earthquake ever recorded. This earthquake lasted between 8 and 10 minutes and caused the entire planet to vibrate 1 cm. Thanks to humanitarian efforts $14 million were donated to relieve the people in the mire dire situations.

Fast forward to current day: Japan was struck with an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and needs your help. The Real Medicine Foundation is working hard to donate money and is figuring out a way to contribute their expertise and resources.

Help The Real Medicine Foundation Today

Sign up to volunteer today with The Real Medicine Foundation. As a volunteer you will provide humanitarian support to people in disaster areas both on site and through an office.

You can also donate to The Real Medicine Foundation. You can either donate online or by mail to 11628 Santa Monica, Blvd. Suite 203, Los Angeles, CA 90025. They can also be reached by phone at 310-820-4502. Your donations will go directly to support victims of natural disasters.

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation: Dancing for a Cure

HIV affects children from the U.S. to South Africa

Thanks to the efforts of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, pediatric AIDS has been almost eliminated in the United States. Also, now more than half of HIV-positive pregnant women in lower-income countries receive medicines to help prevent transmission of HIV to their unborn children.  25% of the women who receive medicine are sponsored by the Foundation.

Regardless of all of the progress they have made, there are still more than 1,000 children infected with HIV every day through breast milk or in utero. The foundation works through research, programs, and public policy around the world to fight pediatric HIV/AIDS.

The research they have provided over the last 20 years has created scientific advances leading to prevention, treatment, and a cure of pediatric HIV infection. They also work to train international research leaders to take action against the virus in children around the world while continuing the development of the vaccine.

The Pediatric AIDS Foundation also works with regions that are heavily plagued with HIV like sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, etc. to implement life-saving programs. They work with partners to give prevention, care and treatment for women, children and families. They also work to research and implement better technology across the world.

Speaking Out for the Rights of Children

Giving a voice to those who cannot raise theirs loudly enough, Elizabeth Glaser worked to bring awareness to the children fighting HIV/AIDS in the earlier years of the pandemic. The Foundation has worked with policy makers, the infected population, scientists, researchers, community and business leaders, and the media to provide funding for pediatric AIDS and to make medication more accessible. Most importantly, thanks to the Foundation, discrimination against those infected with HIV is being prevented with more education and awareness available.

Give Back to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

Give back now to the Pediatric AIDS Foundation! From February 19-20, UCLA is hosting their annual Dance Marathon, a 26 hour dance-a-thon to raise money to fight Pediatric AIDS. This year will be the 10th annual Dance Marathon at UCLA. Sign up at www.bruindancemarathon.org/ to be a Moraler or a Volunteer today.

You can also take action or donate to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Children’s Bureau: A Leader in Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment

The Children’s Bureau works to prevent child abuse and neglect, to protect and nurture abused children, to enhance families to meet the needs of their children, and to advance foster care, adoption, child development, parent education, and research. Their goal it to give vulnerable children the foundation to become productive adults.

Children’s Bureau started in 1904 and since then has worked to provide shelters, foster homes, and refuges for abused children and their families. Their advanced child abuse prevention and treatment services works in the positive direction to give a voice and a helping hand to children who are in at-risk positions.

Child Abuse Statistics

• 1 child abuse report is made every 10 seconds.
• 5 children die every day from child abuse. 75% are under age 4.
• 60-85% of child fatalities are due to maltreatment that is not recorded on death certificates.
• 90% of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator; 68% are family members.
• 31% of women in prison were abused as children.
• 60% of people in drug rehabilitation centers were abused as a child.
• 80% of 21 year olds that were abused as children classify with at least one psychological disorder.
• The annual cost of child abuse is $104 billion (2007).

(Source: www.childhelp.org)

Help a Child in Need

You can donate your time and money to Children’s Bureau by volunteering, donating, or adopting a foster child.

Donate now to Children’s Bureau. Gifts of $1000 or more are recognized in their annual giving program, Century Circle for Children.

You can also adopt or foster a child in need. There are currently 63,000 children in foster care and over 12,000 waiting for adoptive families. You can click here to fill out a form that will keep you up to date about scheduling upcoming meetings or call 800-730-3933. For an application, click here or you can visit their website at all4kids.org. You can complete the application and mail it to them at:

Children’s Bureau
Foster Care & Adoptions
1910 Magnolia Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90007

or fax it to them at 213-342-0253.

You can also become a volunteer. For more information, click here or contact them at 213-342-0100.

For upcoming events and news, visit their event calendar.

Big Brothers Big Sisters: Mentoring Matters

Our mission is to help children in need reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one mentoring relationships.

The youth in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Foundation are 76% less likely to be involved in gangs, and for over 55 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire have continued to make an impact in the lives of thousands of children. Together, BBBS and their volunteers work to enhance the social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive competencies of children living in poverty, to improve academic achievement and educational commitment, to improve the health standards of these children and inform of preventative health, to improve the children’s sense of a future, and to build the sense of self-worth for children.

Their goal: to serve 5,000 children each year by 2020 by ensuring effectiveness and quality of Big Brothers Big Sisters. A lot of the at-risk youth’s lives are transformed by Big Brothers Big Sisters. They work to transform the at-risk neighborhoods and schools in order to make the lives of children living in poverty better.

What does “at-risk” mean?

“At-risk youth” applies to children and adoelscents who are associated with crime, violence, sex, substance abuse, or a lack of access to basic human rights like healthcare or education. An at-risk child can live below the poverty level, live in low-income situations, or struggle with complex situations like difficult social environments, a hard family life, or peer pressure.

What does a Big Brother or a Big Sister do?

Over 1,500 at-risk children from ages six to eighteen are matched carefully with adult volunteers. They have multiple programs for children to cooperate in to ameliorate their situations.

The Community Based Mentoring Program matches one child with one mentor. This provides a one-year commitment meeting twice a month for two to four hours.

The Workplace Mentoring Program matches volunteers with adolescents in their sophomore year of high school. They teach students the necessary skills to succeed in the working world and instill the desire to do well in school.

The School Based Program offers consistent time and attention to children who need a long-term caring adult in their lives. The mentor meets with the child once a week for one hour – this commitment lasts 1 year.

Give Back to Big Brothers Big Sisters

You can give back to Big Brothers Big Sisters by becoming a Big, by making a donation, or by volunteering at their bingo hall.

To become a Big, you need to fill out the application and apply here. If you have any questions contact David Garvey at 213-213-2463 or email him at David. Garvey@bbbsla.org.

90% of the Big Brothers Big Sister budget is thanks to the generous donors. It costs $1500 to make a match. Even a small donation will help since they currently support over 1500 matches. Donate now or give an honorary gift. To make a donation over the phone contact Sylvia Ghazarian at 213-213-2422 or email at Sylvia.Ghazarian@bbbsla.org.

You can also donate your time at Bingo night. On Friday and Saturday night, Big Brothers Big Sisters hosts a live bingo night. It takes place Friday from 5:30PM to 11:00 PM and Saturday 4:30 PM to 10:00 PM at 5601 W. Slauson Ave, Suite 130, Culver City, CA 90230. Contact Rick Craft at 213-213-2424 or Rick.Craft@bbbsla.org.

The Weingart Center Association: Where Transformations Happen

Keeping up with the Homeless Assistance theme this week, today we are focusing on the Weingart Center Association who works to better the homeless population through residential programs, non-residential programs, and permanent housing. The main goal: to break the cycle of homelessness and to help these individuals and families lead fulfilling, self-sufficient lives.

The Skills to Break the Homelessness Cycle

Skills that the Weingart center offers to the homeless include job assistance, permanent housing, sobriety assistance, increased education, mental and physical healthcare, pulling them out of debt, reuniting families, and setting attainable goals for the future.

They offer specific services that include:

• Legal Aid
• Work attire
• Transitional and Permanent Housing
• Education
• Substance Abuse Support
• Healthcare (mental health, medical health, family planning)
• Life and workforce skills
• Nutrition

Their individualized and compassionate support that adapts to the changing community has made a huge impact on the large homeless community in Los Angeles.

Making an Impact

From Operation Welcome Home, a program helping to assimilate veterans back into society, to their Open Door Program, helping locate jobs for parolees, the Weingart Center alleviates the homeless struggles of many.

The Weingart Center Association helped me to get my life back.

They have housed 600 people every day in an 11-story building, served 225,000 healthy meals annually, created a medical clinic to control TB and HIV in the early stages, and miraculously uses 82% of funds to give back to the community.

Interested in lending a hand to the Weingart center? There are many ways for you to give back.

1. Donate: The money or goods that you donate will be used to directly help out the 48,000 homeless people in Los Angeles.
2. Volunteer: By volunteering with the Weingart Center you can directly affect a life. The Weingart Center suggests organizing a clothing drive, sponsoring an event, giving a participant a make over, volunteering at one of their many volunteer events, or becoming a Weingart Center partner.
3. Wish List: Give back by ordering the Weingart Center one of the items on their wish list.

For upcoming events, visit their event page and their blog. You can even call the Weingart Center Association at 213-627-9000 and email them at center@weingart.org. Their address is 566 South San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013.