Hillsides to Break Ground on $12 Million Capital Campaign Project

Here is a rendering of what the athletic fields and new building will look like after Hillsides capital campaign project is complete.

Hillsides, a premier provider of child welfare services in Los Angeles County, will break ground on the first stage of its $12 million capital campaign, Creating Lasting Change, to improve the agency’s Pasadena campus on June 9, 2016.

The first stage of the new construction of the Pasadena campus includes a new swimming pool and cabana and a recreational corridor that include gardens/grassy play areas, basketball courts, sandboxes, and swing sets. The road leading to campus will also be reconfigured and a welcoming entrance kiosk will be built during this first phase.

“We have spent the last four years intensely planning these exciting improvements to our aging facilities, and we are thrilled to take the first steps toward a modernized, more comprehensive campus,” said Hillsides Chief Executive Officer Joseph M. Costa. “During the planning phase, we tried to imagine all the elements our children would need to be happy, healthy, and safe, and this new recreational corridor has it all.”

Hillsides is hosting a groundbreaking party on June 9 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hillsides Pasadena campus located at 940 Avenue 64, Pasadena, CA 91105. The community is invited to attend. If interested in attending, please contact Hillsides Special Events Coordinator Bernie Gore at (323) 543-2800, ext. 253 or [email protected].

So far Hillsides has raised over $9.1 million toward its $12 million goal. The agency expects funding to be completed by the end of 2016. The second stage of the renovations will begin in September, 2016, and include new art and music studios, a large indoor gym and recreation room, a modernized kitchen, and a spacious new dining commons built above a subterranean garage. All renovations should be complete by June, 2018.

The Pasadena campus consists of residential treatment services for 125 children and 300 family members annually and a therapeutic residential/day school, Hillsides Education Center, that offers academic support with psychological and clinical services to 130 students and some 260 family members annually.

Numerous individuals and foundations have made the improvement project possible. The foundations that have supported the capital campaign are The Ahmanson Foundation, The Ayrshire Foundation, The Burton G. Bettingen Corporation, California HealthCare Foundation , Capital Group, The Don and Sally Clark Foundation, Gardner Grout Foundation, GGE Foundation, Haaga Family Foundation, Havner Family Foundation, The H. Leslie and Elaine S. Hoffman Foundation, The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation, The Sharon D. Lund Foundation, Mericos Foundation, The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation The Playa Foundation, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, The Reiling Family Foundation, The Schow Foundation, S. Mark Taper Foundation, I.N. and Susanna H. Van Nuys Foundation, and the WWW Foundation.

Hillsides, founded in 1913, serves more than 6,200 children and families throughout Los Angeles County, including the San Gabriel Valley and Echo Park. For more information, please visit www.hillsides.org.