Together the Beachbody Foundation and GO Campaign are launching the Hand Across Watts Initiative.
In response to the recent announcement that LAUSD will not reopen schools until 2021 due to COVID-19, GO Campaign is bringing together multiple Local Heroes and community organizations across the Southeast and Newton Divisions of inner-city Los Angeles to launch this new initiative to ensure that students K-12 do not fall behind in school.
Working with Avalon Carver Community Center, Clean Slate, Watts Community Core, and Charles Drew University, the students in this predominately black and Latino community will have access to technology and the internet, access to tutoring to help them understand and complete their assignments, and extra-curricular activities using safe social distancing.
The funds will be used to transform both Avalon Carver Community Center and the Nickerson Gardens Recreation Center into “safe zones” where children can come and learn while maintaining COVID safety precautions.
Youth will be able to access their digital learning platforms, receive academic remediation, participate in STEM programs, receive mental health services, and access online workout sessions. Older youth will also be able to access vocational training courses. The target population for this multi-disciplinary program is children in grades K-12 as well as youth ages 16-25 who would like to obtain their high school diploma.
Director of the Avalon Carver Community Center, said:
“Beachbody Foundation is the first to stand with our children in this initiative. COVID brought our work to a screeching halt, threatening to steal our children’s futures and prevent them from reaching beyond the stars. Together Beachbody Foundation and GO Campaign are filling in the gap for our children, giving them a safe place to learn in this new world. I am certain this monumental act will lead to change. Doctors, engineers, and the STEM industry leaders of tomorrow will not only have a safe place to learn, but also a place for their self-esteem to grow, knowing that people outside of the neighborhood care about them, believe in them, and imagine that they are destined for greatness. This is a place to teach our children that they do matter.”
Jamico Elder
