ABC7 Focus On Solutions

 By Willie Monroe

Jan. 9 – KGO – Their goal is promoting social justice. Their method is financing small grassroots organizations. In this ABC7 Focus on Solutions, the Agape Foundation has been doing this for more than 30 years.

The People’s Grocery needed a truck to distribute fresh produce and healthy food to west Oakland which has a shortage of grocery stores.

Families against California Three Strikes needed help with the initiative campaign of 2004.

And the Mosaic Project needed help spreading its message of tolerance to young people.They all called on the Agape Foundation.

Karen Topakian, Agape Foundation: “We think it’s very important to fund those groups that don’t have access to traditional resources. We want to be a place for those on the edge ideas, and issues of social change. We want to provide a place for people to come for funding and find support to continue with their issues.”

Since it started in 1969, the Agape Foundation has helped fund 700 different organizations, most with grants of about $2,000 dollars. Altogether it’s given away nearly $10 million dollars.

Karen Topakian, Agape Foundation: “The objective is to fund non-violent social change organizations.”

One of its first grants went to the Farm Workers Union.

Groups have to be less than five-years old, based in California and have budgets less than $100,000 dollars. They must focus on issues like peace, environmental protection and human rights. But the foundation is open to innovative ideas.

Karen Topakian, Agape Foundation: “Ah, because we fund alternative models. We not only fund the projects that want to stop the discriminatory and violent behavior, and we see violence very broadly. Denial of people to have health care, and access to a clean environment and a safe environment we see just as violent as someone pointing a gun to your head.”

Agape supports the Freedom Archives, a collection of historical audio and visual recordings that document progressive culture and politics in the Bay Area.

Claude Marks, Freedom Archives: “Well, we think social justice has its roots and so what we do is try to make those connections. Because the focus of the work that we have in the archives is in fact the social justice work that existed in the 80’s or the 70’s or even the 60’s.”

They’re preserving that history, and in some cases restoring it as old recordings start to deteriorate. They also introduce young people to this history and teach them studio production along the way.

Sele Nadel-Hayes, Freedom Archives: “It gives them pride. It gives them a sense of history. It gives them a sense of wanting to make a change in the world and wanting to make a change in their communities which is what is going to lead to really positive things in the future.”

The foundation gets its money from individual donors. They’re not all wealthy. The average donation is $60 dollars. But they share a dedication to achieving their vision of a better world.

Source: Wayback Machine Internet Archive