HCN and Fang Pepin Charitable Fund support Black History Month events in San Francisco and Nairobi, Kenya

San Francisco, California – MLIFE Foundation today announced that the Homeless Children's Network had provided a $10,000 grant to support its Learning Enrichment & Acceleration Program (LEAP). The grant will support LEAP to curate programs for Transitional Age Youths (11-24) and young adults (24-34) in San Francisco to celebrate Black History Month.

"Black History Month blends with MLIFE programming regarding Black children, " said Mwangi Mukami. "It is our tradition to remind ourselves, our kids and young adults that they carry within them the tenacity, optimism, and faith of their ancestors, and inculcate in them and us the belief that we can move that rich legacy forward."

The grant is part of the Homeless Children's Network Community Innovations Mini Grant. It will support MLIFE's LEAP program to offer a 1-yr subscription to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal for neurological divergent Black kids. The grant will also permit MLIFE to purchase tablets for them.

Additional financial support from the Fang Pepin Charitable Fund will enable MLIFE to host a virtual summit on February 25, 2022. The virtual meeting will feature a conversation on how African culture interlocks with that of the Diaspora. Award-winning artist and songwriter Kwame Rĩgĩi and Prof. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya's cultural icon and Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine, are featured guests at the event.

About LEAP: MLIFE's Learning Enrichment & Acceleration Program (LEAP) supports underserved children to acquire cognitive skills in reading, math, and basic reasoning by moving them from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." LEAP utilizes captivating storytelling and real-world application to complement the school curriculum through reading critically, thinking creatively, writing clearly, and speaking confidently.