Southeast Area : Federal Grant Will Fund 3 Head Start Centers

The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation has been awarded a $2.5-million federal grant to begin a preschool program in the Southeast area.

The grant will allow the organization to open at least three Head Start centers serving 412 4- and 5-year-olds in Huntington Park, South Gate and the unincorporated county area of Florence, said Kathyrn Tafoya, foundation spokeswoman.

“It’s going to be a whole new ballgame for this area,” said Dionicio Morales, foundation president. “They’ve never really had extensive preschool or child care of any kind.”

The foundation provides child care and preschool services for 700 children at nine centers in Southern California, but the grant will establish the foundation’s first Head Start program, Tafoya said.

The grant provides funding for a staff of 56 to run the five-day-a-week program. Children will attend 3 1/2-hour sessions each day to learn basic academic and social skills, as well as good health and nutrition habits. Organizers hope to have the first center, most likely a site in Huntington Park, in operation by January.

The grant, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services and administered through the Los Angeles County Office of Education, requires the fund to raise $250,000 in cash, donations or volunteer hours.