The Boys and Girls Clubs of Tustin initially closed at the start of the pandemic, but since has safely opened at reduced capacity and increased hours to accommodate children who are enrolled in distance learning. “The impact to our revenue was huge,” CEO Jamie Serrano said. “The longer this goes on the further and further that deficit will stretch.” “Grants like this — it’s huge. Every single dollar of lifeline that comes through is huge for us and gives us the ability to stretch the pandemic a little further,” she said.

The Youth Center provides child care services for families who live and work in the Los Alamitos area. This year has been the hardest in the nonprofit’s 68-year history.
With assistance from a CARES Act grant, The Youth Center is able to continue to serve children and families during the pandemic. The Center currently serves (as of January 2021) 1,000 children at three locations in Los Alamitos. The kids come from 26 different cities, though their parents either work or live in Los Alamitos. The Youth Center re-opened shortly after the shutdown in March to serve the children of first responders, medical staff, and other essential workers. The center was struggling to stay open and make ends meet — and continue their streak of never having declined a scholarship for a single child.