Built Environment Policy Advocacy Fund (BEPAF) Program Overview
With funding from First 5 LA, Prevention Institute will award one-year (June 2020 – May 2021) grants ranging from $40,000 – $100,000 to community-based organizations, policy advocacy networks, and coalitions working to improve neighborhood conditions for children 0-5 and their families in Los Angeles County. BEPAF grantees will support resident leaders and advocate for policies and procedures to increase access to parks and open space, safe walking and biking routes, public transit options, healthy food, and resources for children and families living in communities that have experienced historical disinvestment. This is a unique opportunity to improve the built environment, with a goal of promoting healthy early childhood development in First 5 LA’s Best Start communities. The BEPAF is part of First 5 LA’s mission to ensure that all children in Los Angeles County enter Kindergarten ready to succeed.
Following a highly competitive application process, seven organizations were selected to receive BEPAF funding in Year 1 (2020 – 2021):
- Alliance for Community Transit – Los Angeles (ACT-LA) is a broad-based coalition of 37 organizations that is building a grassroots movement for more equitable public transit systems and budgets. ACT-LA, with coalition partners Community Power Collective and Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, will lead a new LA County-wide campaign for transit justice that builds the power of low-income residents to shape policies and funding decisions. The coalition will organize parents and residents in East LA and Koreatown, developing their skills to become effective leaders and spokespeople in the transit justice campaign.
Metro... Libre y Gratuito ¡Únase el Miércoles, 5-7pm a pasajeros y aliados para una conversación sobre transporte… t.co/4OPuIwvyKy
Go Metro... the FREE way. Join us next Wednesday, 5-7pm for a community-hosted event on making LA Metro fare free!… t.co/fL0yqcjYqv
For our coalition's recommendations on LA's Housing Element, please check out our blog! t.co/TQ9X2EiRnH
"Almost half of the new housing built in L.A. between 2012 to 2019 was located in lower-income communities... But a… t.co/XgfUGXSuwa
- Community Coalition works to transform the social and economic conditions in South LA that foster addiction, crime, violence, and poverty by building a community institution that involves thousands in creating, influencing, and changing public policy. Community Coalition will apply its renowned model of community organizing and power-building to the issue of park equity. Community Coalition will cultivate knowledge, agency, and leadership among low-income African American and Latino residents of South LA to influence public policies—including tax and fiscal reform—to improve parks, open space, and recreation areas in their neighborhoods.
Talking about the week that was and what’s to come - 1,700 Black & Brown residents in South LA were vaccinated at J… t.co/ySg4mlbgxg
This is great to see and should be the norm in cities across the country t.co/27GTVfsKbk
- Investing in Place works to align policies and public dollars to support transportation investments that strengthen communities. Investing in Place and partners East Side Riders Bike Club, Los Angeles Walks, and South Central LAMP will advance the Moms and Mobility project in South Central LA, Watts, and other South LA neighborhoods. Recognizing that women and their young children face access and safety barriers as they travel to school, work, medical providers, grocery stores, parks, and other destinations, the project will combine new data and new voices from women to influence policy and public investments for a more equitable transportation system.
@sarahysyed @DrGenaCarpio @SAShistorian This is a great lecture!
Join partners @HappyCityCo at this week’s Gateway Council of Governments meeting on Wednesday 03/03 at 6pm via zoo… t.co/wR9VzfMRyE
Will the policing contract be heard in committee next month or will the next public discussion among… t.co/sNX01mLgot
- Just Environment Long Beach is a collaborative of organizations and individuals working to achieve systemic changes on matters of environmental health and justice in the most affected neighborhoods of Central, West, and North Long Beach. Just Environment Long Beach will organize and build power among Long Beach residents to develop a community-led “Green Zones” strategy. These Green Zones will transform areas overburdened by pollution, disinvestment, and unhealthy land uses into healthy, thriving, stabilized neighborhoods, with parks, open space, and safe mobility as key priorities.
- Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles (PSR-LA) is a physician membership organization that advocates for policies and practices that improve public health, eliminate nuclear and environmental threats, and address health disparities. PSR-LA will engage communities across East LA, South LA, and Southeast LA County to take on the intersectional issues of increasing access to parks and open space while protecting children and their families from toxic exposures. The TIERRA project will produce a policy agenda and related tools to facilitate proactive contamination remediation as an essential element of community-driven efforts to increase safe access to parks and other green space.
Regarding an ordinance that can greenlight 40,000+ oil/gas wells, Delano Mayor @BryanOsorioT says "It doesn’t have… t.co/74BJnnz3Q4
Oil drilling pollution emits chemicals that not only harm humans, but could have multi-generational impacts. For o… t.co/IZ53Slk8qs
EJ communities are holding Gov. Newsom accountable for oil drilling. 🚫 At the same time, we must hold LA councilme… t.co/md5m1oaTNR
Voices build movements. The people of @CountyofKern, CA are opposed to Big Oil drilling 40,000+ more oil and gas we… t.co/RoARng9AyM
LA City Council has the opportunity to establish a policy protecting public health & transitioning our city away fr… t.co/m5rzh11G2a
It's a growing California movement to phase out fossil fuels, city by city, prioritizing people first and FAST. 📢I… t.co/5n2yZUAM2f
We #StandWithKern and Delano City Councilman & Mayor @BryanOsorioT on opposing an ordinance that could greenlight 4… t.co/w1Le4VDpTp
Please join with us to stop the massive expansion of oil and gas drilling in @CountyofKern! Sign the petition now.… t.co/DcyjK3IOsy
We need a city-wide phase out of oil drilling, starting in frontline communities. Our health can't wait. LA City C… t.co/HlQFA26WZh
- Promesa Boyle Heights is a collective impact initiative of Proyecto Pastoral, a Boyle Heights based organization that supports educational opportunities, economic opportunities, and safety and well-being. Promesa Boyle Heights, in collaboration with Pacoima Beautiful, From Lot 2 Spot, Advancement Project California, The Wilderness Society, and other Park Equity Alliance partners, will organize residents in neighborhoods across East LA, the Northeast San Fernando Valley, and Southeast LA County, to engage in policy- and systems-change advocacy for parks and open space, and strengthening community-led oversight of Measure A implementation.
CSU’s extended their application deadline to December 15th and Promesa's College & Career team wants to help you fi… t.co/DST4vwGzCI
We join over 40 organizations calling on @MayorOfLA and all LA leadership to hold @GetSpectrum @ATT @FrontierCorp… t.co/OQT4oVt6TT
The wait is over! But the fight is not!! Let’s keep the energy going by standing together every step of the way. To… t.co/3PhFcu494z
Join us and The Consortium for English Learner Success TODAY as we discuss how we can best put our 2020-21 Policy A… t.co/5F0ENqftKH
Tomorrow, The Consortium for English Learner Success will convene @ 1pm to engage in an action plan to implement re… t.co/6xl9iAZi7r
This Thursday, The Consortium for English Learner Success will discuss the 6 values that were published in our 2020… t.co/dMiTPpGB3A
In May, we were honored to unveil the policy agenda and campaign plan for the Consortium for English Learner Succes… t.co/C62OFKO9oE
El 30 de septiembre es la fecha límite para el Censo 2020. Por favor complete el formulario hoy- La comunidad de Bo… t.co/HVdB4qZcWn
- United Parents and Students supports students, parents, and community members in amplifying their collective voice and advocating for the issues and changes that matter most to them. United Parents and Students will increase equitable food access in low-income communities by improving the quality of existing grocery stores, enabling and equipping entrepreneurs to focus on healthy and affordable food, and increasing the number of large-scale, high-quality grocery stores that locate in neighborhoods across South LA, East LA, and Southeast LA County.
JOIN US FOR our Virtual Community Organizing Institute on March 23rd at 4:00-5:30pm PST! We are excited to welcome,… t.co/7KcXvegerg
Thank you to all our UPAS families who called in to make Public Comment on such an important issue in our communiti… t.co/026QkGIDcd
We urge @LACity @CountyofLA @CAgovernor to demand that @GetSpectrum @ATT @FrontierCorp @TMobile @Verizon s… t.co/eoYAeulFOd
Program Management: The BEPAF is a program funded by First 5 LA. Prevention Institute will manage the BEPAF, selecting grantees and administering grants, convening grantees in a learning community, providing technical assistance, and building grantee capacity; Ersoylu Consulting will lead the BEPAF program evaluation. Since 2014, Prevention Institute has facilitated the Healthy Equitable Active Land Use (HEALU) Network, a multi-sector collaborative that works to improve health equity through land use/built environment policy and systems change in Los Angeles County. Since 2007, Ersoylu Consulting has provided strategy, evaluation, policy analysis, and systems consultation to strengthen systems and empower communities in the social justice space.
For more information, please contact BEPAF@preventioninstitute.org.