Friendship Foundation Receives $1M In Government Funding

REDONDO BEACH, CA — Congressman Ted Lieu announced that coastal Los Angeles County would receive more than $22 million in government funding for community projects, and $1 million of that amount was reserved for the Friendship Foundation in Redondo Beach.

The funding will support inclusive programs for students with disabilities for the non-profit, which is dedicated to empowering people with developmental disabilities to build friendship and independence.

“These projects will help tackle some of the most pressing needs in our district including providing mental health and housing care for vulnerable people, endangered wildlife protection and supportive programming for young students," Lieu said.

The funding was a part of President Joe Biden's $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package signed last month. The omnibus looks to create good-paying jobs and grow opportunities for the middle class, small businesses and working families.

Lieu secured funding for 14 other projects on the coast of L.A. County to directly benefit residents including:

• $1 million for the Boys and Girls Clubs of L.A. Harbor, San Pedro for developing a digital program to support students.
• $1 million for Hermosa Beach for mobile mental health crisis response teams
• More than $3 million for L.A.'s Hyperion Water Reclamation Modernization project.
• $2 million for an L.A. County youth training job and supportive services as a part of the Alternatives to Incarceration Office.
• $1 million for the Manhattan Beach Safe Cycling Project.
• $1 million for Ready to Succeed, a Santa Monica project that provides support for college-going foster youth.
• $1.5 million for Santa Monica for behavioral health and supportive services.
• About $1.1 million for Pacific Palisades Pedestrian Trail
• $3 million for the PATH Permanent Supportive Housing in Marina del Rey
• $898,053 for job skills training and supportive services to those experiencing homelessness given to the St. Joseph Center in Venice.
• $1 million for the Torrance Temporary Housing Program
• $1.6 million for the UCLA SeaChange: Carbon Sequestration Pilot
• $500,000 for facilities and equipment for the Venice Family Clinic
• $2.5 million for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing

“I am pleased to have secured $22,601,025 in Community Project Funding for our community,” Lieu said.

Lieu also signed two bills into law, the Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study Act.

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study Act will have the National Park Service conduct a three-year Special Resource Study to determine whether to add much of the Santa Monica Bay watershed to the existing recreational area or make it a new national recreation area.

The Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act aims to promote more sustainable fishing in the region by phasing out use of large mesh drift gill nets.

"Both bills, in addition to the millions of project funding going to our district, are significant wins for our community," Lieu said.