Magnolia Place Community Initiative

The Magnolia Place Community Initiative is trying a radical new model of neighborhood connectedness, with a view to transforming the lives of 35,000 low-income children who live in one of the most densely populated areas of Los Angeles. Using a 5 square mile 500 block catchment area Magnolia Place has built an extraordinary network of over 70 local organizations who have touchpoints to children and families. Whether these are nonprofits, governmental agencies, medical offices, churches, schools, banks or more, these partners have come together under the idea that no matter which entry point a family takes into the network, all network partners can be responsible for looking a little further than their specific role and asking a few additional questions about how the family is doing, how their kids are doing, and if there are any other services they can help them connect with. From this starting place, Magnolia Place is transforming community connections at every level. But how do you bring together over 70 diverse organizations with different goals, and get them to see one united vision?