Can Many Nonprofits Survive the New Regime?
In the wake of the election, the end of 2024 has left many residents in the Harbor Area wondering just how strange 2025 and the following three years will get. One example: Many nonprofits may be in for big problems, or cease to exist.
On Nov. 21, the House of Representatives passed the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act (H.R. 9495) after it was defeated in an initial vote the week prior. Nonprofits throughout the nation (the American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or NAACP, Greenpeace USA, Jewish Voice for Peace, CalNonprofits, Interfaith Alliance, Oxfam, and Planned Parenthood are among the groups that oppose the measure) are decrying a new bill aimed at 501(c)(3) organizations. The bill would give the executive branch authority to strip nonprofits of tax-exempt status if they are found to “fund disruptive and illegal activity nationally and terrorism abroad.” HR 9495 still must pass in the Democrat-majority Senate to be signed into law.
Kia Hamadanchy, senior federal policy counsel at ACLU, stated on the organization’s website “While the ACLU would oppose this legislation no matter who the president is, and there is no question it could be weaponized against groups on both ends of the ideological spectrum, the rhetoric we saw on the campaign trail from the president-elect is even more reason for Congress to reject this bill.”
CalNonprofits said the bill has been introduced and failed twice already, noting; “52 Democrats supported it, including Congressman Adam Schiff, California’s newly elected U.S. Senator.”
In summary, the Harbor Area is home to many nonprofits that are doing good works that actually work for the community. If you are able, now is a good time to donate. Just in time for Giving Tuesday, RLN has compiled a list of just some of the nonprofits in the Harbor Area which are doing good works.
Bread Head California: Healthy Eating on a Budget!
Bread Head was founded in 2016 by Celeste Baker. She is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Based in Carson, California, Bread Head seeks to partner in the empowerment of people by providing access to food literacy in the form of cooking classes that encourage self-efficacy. The name Bread Head is a play on Dead Head, to which director Celeste Baker self-described herself. She said the Grateful Dead was a huge source of community and love at a time that was extremely tumultuous for her as a teen.
Bread Head is a 501c3 dedicated to alleviating food insecurity, promoting food literacy, and fostering community among young people, individuals, and families, through culinary life skills classes, delivered in a supportive, nurturing environment.
Bread Head has adopted the same sustainable development goals also known as the Global Goals, that were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
Founded in 1970 by Father Art Bartlett, pastor of the Episcopal Seaman’s Church Institute, and Michael Dowling, a merchant seaman and recovering alcoholic, Beacon House, which was once a shelter for recovering alcoholics, has grown into a comprehensive state-licensed-and-certified substance abuse recovery program for men. Beacon House encompasses five residential facilities, totaling 103 beds, two outpatient clinics, and a dining hall — all on one city block in San Pedro. It also operates two retail locations, Beacon House Thrift Shops, and a meeting hall.
RLN spoke to Beacon House’s donor relations coordinator Avalon Silver about how 2024 has gone for the nonprofit.
“The challenges for Beacon House remain the same,” said Silver. “Addiction continues to decimate our communities so we continue to have a job to do. We focus on that primarily; helping men overcome addiction and get to recovery.”
Silver highlighted important news that happened this year for the nonprofit, thanks in part to Assemblymember Mike Gipson of Carson and to the state. Bartlett Center, which is Beacon House’s cafeteria, has undergone remodeling and will open soon.
“That kitchen was built a very long time ago, I’m not sure what year but it needed some severe upgrades,” Silver said. “We did a fundraising campaign, and that along with $1.25 million that was donated from the state of California through Assemblymember Mike Gipson, was wonderful and allowed us to be in a position where we could complete this remodel.”
Beacon House currently serves about eight local homeless shelters now, cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for residents every day, along with its own approximately 100 residents, which comes to about 1,000 meals a day served.
“We are really excited to have that back up and running because we had been outsourcing for that while the kitchen has been under construction,” Silver said. “We’re very proud of the work we’ve done there and are really thankful to our community and to the state of California for allowing us to do that.”
Angels Gate Cultural Center or AGCC prides itself on being there for the community. The nonprofit promotes the arts and supports the development of emerging and established artists. Its mission is to provide space for artists to work and to engage the community through arts education, thought-provoking exhibitions of contemporary art, and cultural events.
Sarah Al-Mulla, associate director of Angeles Gate, said in an email, “In 2024, Angels Gate Cultural Center was proud to bring over 37 arts events to the San Pedro area, including free monthly all ages workshops, over 16 different weekly community classes, and hosted 8 exhibitions in our galleries. The Center served over 3,100 LA County youth with our Artists-in-Classrooms program, and guided an additional 917 local elementary school students through our exhibitions followed by an art workshop inspired by the artwork they experienced. We were thrilled to welcome the community on campus for soundpedro, OPaf, Many Winters Gathering of Elders and Scary Stories again this year. Next year, we are looking forward to participating in a large arts event, in partnership with other local San Pedro organizations, aimed at opening as many local art spaces as possible over the span of one weekend.”
The cultural center’s goal is to provide community members of all ages opportunities to explore the arts with instruction by professional artist-teachers. This is done through offering moderately priced community classes to the local community on-site at AGCC and through its “Artist-in-Classrooms” or AIC program. AICs 12-week residency programs promote creativity, cross-disciplinary knowledge, and critical thinking skills in accordance with California visual and performing arts standards and familiarize students with contemporary arts practices.
Model Arts School: Founded in partnership with the Grand Vision Foundation, the school stabilizes and expands arts education and arts integration in each of AGCCs soundpedro schools, for all students.
Arts + Exploration Field Trips: This impactful program introduces elementary students to gallery exploration, intercultural heritage and active comprehension through artmaking.
In addition, the cultural center offers monthly community classes, workshops, family art workshops and ArtLab, where AGCC and the Marine Mammal Care Center collaborate on science lessons and hands-on art activities for all ages.
The Los Angeles Maritime Institute or LAMI serves to empower youth to discover their greater potential through extraordinary at-sea experiences aboard educational sailing vessels built to train and equip young people with modern-day leadership skills, and inspire maritime and STEM career paths.
During the late 1980s, Captain Jim Gladson, Los Angeles Unified School District science teacher and sailor witnessed the positive effect that sailing at sea had upon his alternative school students, including those with dyslexia. Subsequently, the TopSail Youth Program was conceived. In 1992, Gladson along with advocates founded LAMI as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and formalized the educational experience as the TopSail Youth Program, to deliver the program to youth from under-resourced communities in Southern California and beyond. Its mission is to use sail training to provide youth with the real-life challenges that would help them develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to stay in school and become healthy, productive adults.
LAMI programs include: Virtual Voyage; TopSail Youth Program; TopSail STEM Program
Sea Scouts/Youth Crew; Explore the Coast; Maritime Youth Leadership Ambassadors and Summer Camp.
San Pedro: Caulder Lamm Alliance For Children Inc.
aka CLA, San Pedro, www.CLAforChildren.org
The mission of Caulder Lamm Alliance for Children is to provide assistance to children and teens from impoverished families in the United States and worldwide. Assistance may include clothing, nourishing meals, school supplies, sports-related activities, higher learning scholarships for the arts and other emergency needs.
Caulder Lamm Alliance for Children was created in memory of Mary Gimenez-Caulder’s son Manuel Lamm, who died in a hiking accident. Manuel was a student who planned to teach literature and art until his passing. He was also a poet and an artist.
Programs
Manuel Jackson Lamm Scholarship for the Arts Award
Annually, CLA provides this award to one or more graduating high school students pursuing higher learning in the arts.
Beyond Bounds
This program provides funds to children in grades K–12 who are interested in or who already participate in an extra-curricular activity and whose families have financial difficulty paying the fees or costs associated with the activity.
Mission Fund
Helping children and youth locally and worldwide, CLA assists children in need with books, school supplies and other emergency needs. Locally, it also conducts food drives and provides grocery gift cards to assist parents that are unable to afford the basics such as a nutritious meal to feed their children.
Caulder Lamm Alliance also provides free lessons in the arts, dance, photography, singing, theater and recently, karate, at the children’s request, to youth who reside in local homeless and domestic violence shelters, as well as children in need in the community. CLA also had yoga lessons with a licensed yoga instructor and a fire safety lesson with an LA Fire department inspector.
Extra-curricular activities include, but are not limited to:
Art; dance; theater, poetry; literature; cheerleading; gymnastics; martial arts; academic tutoring; sports related activities and after school clubs.