City Heights

The City Heights Initiative is a partnership between Price Philanthropies and private and public agencies to provide opportunities for City Heights youth and families to prosper.

Background

In 1994, Sol Price became interested in City Heights as a result of a newspaper article about a Vons grocery store closing in the community. At that time, City Heights had the highest crime rate in San Diego County. Sol and former City Councilman William Jones had been working together to open a retail store in an urban neighborhood in San Diego. Believing the Vons store might be a good site, they soon learned the City of San Diego had already secured the site for a new police substation, but didn’t have the financing in place. Sol made an agreement with then San Diego City Manager, Jack McGrory, whereby Sol would loan the money for the building construction if the City would agree to repay the loan in a timely manner and make the substation as community friendly as possible.

The City Heights Initiative is a holistic, place-based approach that was conceived while working on the police substation.

One of the first components was a redevelopment project known as the “Urban Village,” which resulted in the construction of a library, an outdoor theatre, park, playground, recreation center, preschool, and continuing adult center.

Over 25 years later, Price Philanthropies remains dedicated to improving life opportunities for youth and families in City Heights. Our investments have evolved in response to community need and include affordable housing developments, commercial real estate, and a strong network of non-profit partners that provide social services, educational enrichment, community engagement, and a healthcare safety net for children and families.

City Heights is a vibrant urban community east of downtown San Diego consisting of 16 defined neighborhoods. Approximately 74,000 people, including 21,000 youth under 18, live in a 4 square mile area, the highest population density in the San Diego region. A significant number of residents are foreign born, with many from Latin America, Asia and Africa. The median household income is $32,062.

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Copley-Price Family YMCA

In 2014, the Copley-Price Family YMCA relocated to its new location on the corner of Fairmount Ave. and El Cajon Blvd. Price Philanthropies donated the land and contributed to the capital campaign to help construct the new 53,000 sf facility that includes indoor and outdoor swimming pools, soccer field, weight room, fitness center, indoor gym, preschool, commercial kitchen, community meeting space and after school and camp programs.

Price Philanthropies continues to provide general operating, scholarship and programming support to ensure the Copley-Price Family YMCA is accessible for their 13,000 members and all City Heights youth.

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School-Based Programs

Price Philanthropies supports a number of school-based and school-connected programs in four City Heights schools- Rosa Parks Elementary, Monroe Clark and Wilson Middle, and Hoover High Schools.

School in the Park

School in the Park

School in the Park is an experiential learning program that augments the traditional classroom learning experience with opportunities for children to attend school at museums and the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park. Children from Rosa Parks Elementary School in grades three through five attend eight weeks a year. Children from Wilson Middle School in grade six attend four weeks annually and grades seven and eight attend two weeks each year. They spend the mornings at their schools and the afternoons at the Park.

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Avenues for Success

Avenues for Success

Avenues for Success (AFS) is a comprehensive college access, persistence and completion program that is dedicated to serve first-generation, low-income students from Hoover High School in San Diego, CA. It is a collaboration between Price Philanthropies, San Diego State University and the San Diego Unified School District.

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Social & Emotional Supports

Social & Emotional Supports

Price Philanthropies funds social and emotional support programs at four City Heights schools in partnership with San Diego State University School of Social Work, San Diego Unified School District, and Mending Matters. The programs vary by school and include:
• Social and emotional support curriculum to manage emotions, achieve goals, instill empathy and make responsible decisions;
• Case management, family support, crisis intervention, support groups, and counseling;
• Individual and group therapy to address behavioral issues using a preventative and restorative approach;
• Attendance/truancy interventions through mentoring, tutoring, and access to school resources; and
• Parent-led workshops for parents on school engagement/achievement and behavioral health.
Rosa Parks Elementary Parent Center

Rosa Parks Elementary Parent Center

The Rosa Parks Parent Center is a resource hub for information and services that engages parents with the school to support children’s education and well-being. The Parent Center addresses three core areas: (1) awareness on how to navigate the school system; (2) skill building on how to advocate for their children, develop leadership skills, and volunteer; and (3) connections to school and community resources.

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Music Program

Music Program

The Music Program is a partnership between San Diego Youth Symphony, San Diego Unified School District, and Price Philanthropies. At Rosa Parks Elementary, the program provides a music teacher to teach general music classes based on SDUSD Visual and Performing Arts Standards. Wilson and Monroe Clark Middle Schools receive specialized music coaches, instruments and supplies. Hoover High School students also receive additional music coaching and supports.
Monroe Clark Expeditionary Learning

Monroe Clark Expeditionary Learning

The Monroe Clark Expeditionary Learning program is a continuation of the School in the Park experience for 6^th-8^th graders at Monroe Clark. The San Diego Zoo, SALK Institute, Air and Space Museum, Ocean Discovery Institute, and Birch Aquarium visit the school campus and bring their expertise into the classroom. In addition, students travel to the respective institutions for an in-depth inquiry into grade level appropriate standard based content.
Hoover Community Connections

Hoover Community Connections

The Hoover Community Connections is a group of approximately 30 collaborating organizations working to ensure all Hoover students have the connections, resources, and opportunities they need to define and achieve their own success. Price Philanthropies helps to convene the group.

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Cardinals Interact

Cardinals Interact provides mentoring, tutoring and other supportive activities to selected Hoover High School students to help them achieve lifelong success. The program is a partnership between San Diego Rotary Club 33, Hoover High School and Price Philanthropies.

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Scholarships

The Stephen Effron Scholarship is a competitive scholarship for seniors at Hoover High School that provides up to $6,000/year for up to five years at a four-year university. The Scholarship was established to honor the memory of Stephen Effron who graduated from Hoover High School in 1959 and was the cousin of Robert Price.

The Joseph and Dorothy Goldberg Scholarship is a competitive scholarship for seniors at Crawford High School that provides up to $6,000/year for up to five years at a four-year university. The Scholarship was established to honor the memories of Joe and Dorothy Goldberg. The Goldbergs lived in the Talmadge neighborhood for many years and were friends of the Price family.

Price Community Scholars is a four-year program that matches 15 high-achieving incoming freshmen at SDSU with 45 7th grade mentees (three per mentor) from Wilson and Monroe Clark Middle Schools. Mentors are from City Heights and meet with each mentee once per week to provide informational activities and share their college experiences. Mentors receive a $8,500 annual scholarship for their participation for up to four years.

Community Health

We believe all persons should have access to high quality, affordable health care.

Price Philanthropies helped establish school-based health centers at Rosa Parks and Central Elementary, Monroe Clark Middle and Hoover High Schools. We provide annual support for school nursing staff at Rosa Parks Elementary and Monroe Clark Middle Schools. We also invested in the expansions of La Maestra Community Health Center, Mid-City Pediatric Clinic, City Heights Family Health Center and Rady Children’s Hospital Urgent Care for Primary Care and Behavioral Health.

General Operating Support

In addition to our programmatic grants, we provide general operating support to key non-profit organizations that serve the community of City Heights.

City Heights

Background

City Heights

Copley-Price Family YMCA

School-Based Programs

School in the Park

Avenues for Success

Social & Emotional Supports

Rosa Parks Elementary Parent Center

Music Program

Monroe Clark Expeditionary Learning

Hoover Community Connections

Cardinals Interact

Scholarships

Community Health

General Operating Support

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