the miller foundation
London
The Miller Foundation is committed to investing our resources to give children
living within these high-need neighborhoods the opportunity to flourish,
develop, and reach their full potential. Foundation funding will be primarily
directed to programs that address issues within our three focused program areas
that impact children in these identified vulnerable neighborhoods of greater
Long Beach. Long Beach, the 7th largest city in California, is on one hand a
city of great resources: culturally rich, boasting beautiful ecological
features, and home to esteemed higher educational institutions. On the other
hand, it is a city of great needs: facing high levels of poverty and its
multiple effects, environmental pollution, and rising housing costs. Over the
years, Long Beach has become “a tale of two cities,” where certain neighborhoods
are characterized by the benefits and resources of affluence and other
neighborhoods are bearing the brunt of low incomes, decreased resources, and the
challenges of communities of poverty. *Slides & facts courtesy of the Long Beach
Community Action Partnership, LBCAP.org Long Beach’s areas of
affluence—concentrated primarily on the east side of Long Beach– are
characterized by high annual median family incomes, longer life expectancy,
higher employment levels, and overall community safety. Children have access to
a vast array of resources that promote their development including high-quality
schools and after-school enrichment programs of diverse types, excellent access
to health care, and safe spaces to grow up and recreate. Areas of critical need
are concentrated primarily within North, West Central, and Southwest Long Beach.
These neighborhoods experience high levels of poverty, exposure to environmental
pollutants, and low levels of educational attainment. Families and children in
these areas face great barriers in accessing health care resources, support in
early education and educational attainment, and affordable arts programming.
These neighborhoods also contain the largest concentration of children in the
city.
