Crail-Johnson Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The Crail-Johnson Foundation limits most of its philanthropy to underserved areas of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. Its grantmaking includes education, human services, and health.

IP TAKE: Crail-Johnson is a good funder to know if your organization works with underserved children and youth. While some of its grants are modest, it supports over one hundred organizations a year, including many smaller community-based programs. Crail-Johnson accepts applications for its different focus areas at different times of the year, but its grantmaking is streamlined through its applicaton portal. Reach out with questions or ideas via the foundation’s contact page at any time.

PROFILE: Founded in 1987 and based in San Pedro, California, the Crail-Johnson Foundation maintains a mission to “promote the well-being of children in need, through the effective application of human and financial resources.” Its grantmaking supports Education, Human Services and Health. Grantmaking prioritizes programming and initiatives for “economically, socially and physically disadvantaged children” in the Southern California communities of San Pedro, Carson, Harbor City, Wilmington, Long Beach, Compton, Watts, and South Los Angeles.

Grants for Early Childhood Education

Crail-Johnson’s Education funding area names early childhood education and child care as priorities for its giving. Specific areas of interest include kindergarten readiness, early literacy, parent engagement and support and soci0-emotional well-being.

Early childhood grants have supported organizations including the LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment, Long Beach Day Nursery, Reading to Kids and the California Alliance of Caregivers.

Grants for K-12 Education, STEM and Arts Education

K-12 grants support initiatives for STEM, arts education and out-of-school learning and youth development programs. Grade-level literacy achievement and initiatives that promote parent involvement in education are also of interest to this funder.

Grantees include the Compton Conservatory of Music, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Debate League, New Village Charter School, Port of Los Angeles High School and multiple chapters of Boys and Girls Clubs in the foundation’s target giving areas.

It is worth mentioning that the foundation provides ongoing support to Accelerated Schools, a network of charter schools operting within the Los Angels Unified School District that is “distinguished by a culture focused on higher education.” Ongoing support also goes to the Pacific Battleship Center’s STEM education programs.

Grants for Public Health and Mental Health

Crail-Johnson’s Health giving area names four main priorities.

  • Community Health grantmaking focuses on “whole person/whole family health, and overall goals to improve access to care, provide education, screening, and treatment, and improve health outcomes.”

  • Grants for Mental Health and Well-Being prioritize services for “students, the homeless and unhoused, and special needs individuals and their caregivers/families.”

  • The foundation also supports Direct Medical Services, prioritizing pediatric care at community clinics.

  • Crail-Johnson also articulates interest in supporting Dental Care initiatives for children.

Mental health grants also stem from the foundation’s Human Services grantmaking area, which names “counseling and shelter services” for abuse victims and at risk youth as areas of interest.

Health grantees include the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, the Mammoth Hospital Foundation, Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles and the Tichenor Clinic for Children. Mental health grants have gone to the Social and Emotional Wellness Initiative, Rainbow Services, Our House, Music for Mental Health and Family Promise of the South Bay.

Grants for Housing, Homelessness, Food Systems and Violence Prevention

Additional grants from the foundation’s Human Services area make grants in the following areas:

  • Child and domestic abuse prevention and treatment;

  • Food distribution “to relieve hunger in our communities”;

  • Services for homeless children and families, including emergency and transitional housing, adult education and vocational training and programs for health parenting skills; and

  • Programs to “improve foster care services, juvenile crime prevention and diversion, mentoring, and specific populations, in particular children and youth with special needs.”

Grantees in these areas include Disabled Sports Easter Sierra, Faith Foster Families Network, Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles, Sanctuary of Hope and the Youth Mentoring Connection, among others.

Other Grantmaking Opportunties

Crail-Johnson also provides ongoing support to AltSea at the Port of Los Angeles, an organization that is “dedicated to accelerating scientific collaboration, advancing an emerging blue economy through business innovation and job creation, and inspiring the next generation, all for a more sustainable, just and equitable world.”

Important Grant Details:

Grants range from $100 to $40,000.

  • This funder’s supports organizations of all sizes in its target communities; small organizations are well represented here.

  • Geographic priorities include San Pedro, Carson, Harbor City, Wilmington, Long Beach, Compton, Watts, and South Los Angeles, but the foundation will make exceptions for initiatives of high interest operating in other parts of Los Angeles.

  • All grantmaking prioritizes “the needs of economically, socially and physically disadvantaged children” and their families.

  • This funder accepts applications for its different focus areas at different times of the year. Applications for education grants are accepted from September 1 through October 15; human services applications are accepted between December 1 and January 15; and applications for health grants are accepted from April 15 through May 31. All applciations must be submitted through the applciation portal.

  • For information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent grants page.

Submit general questions to the Crail-Johnson Foundation via its contact page.

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