A recent grant from Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF) is helping one non-profit continue its mission to rebuild the lives of at-risk children and their families.
IECF distributed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Fund to Oak Grove Center, a residential, educational, and treatment center with multiple campuses for at-risk and special needs youth. The federal program, which sprang to life in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, offers financial relief to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments.
“Most of our kids have really struggled with no self-esteem and safety issues,” said Tammy Wilson, CEO of Oak Grove Center. “The grant helped our arts program, which provides healing opportunities. Nobody reimburses that. We do fundraising, obviously, but this grant was very helpful, especially coming off the COVID years, where there have been issues with money and fundraisers that were canceled.”
The center’s diverse programming stands out, in fact, encompassing dance, performing arts, music, video creation, and so much more.
Oak Grove’s sports program, for instance, provides access to a variety of sports throughout the year, ranging from basketball and cross country to soccer, volleyball, and track and field. Elsewhere, the center’s autism program provides a combination of academic, social, and vocational skills services to students on the autism spectrum.
Wilson credits the arts program for helping build character and instilling hope.
“It therapeutic for the kids to perform,” she added.
“A lot of times they’re coming from backgrounds where they haven’t been exposed to the arts at all. So, to be part of a team and then part of a production, even if it’s helping behind scenes, gives them a sense of connection and belonging.”
To that end, children struggling with a history of trauma, depression or child abuse are able to find healing and personal freedom via self-expression and deeper connections with others.
Wilson says the program has been a vital tool to help children move “beyond painful pasts.”
Founded in 1989, Oak Grove Center now serves more than 800 children and teens annually. The organization is licensed by the California Department of Social Services as a Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program. It is accredited by the Joint Commission and Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
Wilson, a licensed marriage and family therapist, has been with the organization since 1991 and its CEO since 2004.
Witnessing lives transform has been eye-opening over the years, but so have shifts in government funding.
“What’s happened over time is that we’ve had to take fewer dependents because of this whole bureaucracy thing,” Wilson said. “That’s affected funding because the dollars for mental health were only going to be passed on to small programs. Small programs can’t afford some of the things that we’re doing, which are enrichment-related and very high-quality mental health services.”
She noted the recent cuts in government funding this year.
“We’re also a little bit worried about the current administration and where things are headed,” she added. “I was in Sacramento recently lobbying for some of the budget needs, not just for places like Oak Grove, but for the foster family agencies and transitional housing programs (THP), including those for LGBTQ youth.”
Oak Grove Center offers a THP for 18- to 21-year-olds in Palm Springs, in fact. It’s called Oak Grove Sanctuary Palm Springs.
“We would like to be able to serve young adults from other counties just besides Riverside, because that’s such a specialty population,” she said. “So, if you’re LGBTQ, we’d like you to be able to go there even if you’re from a different county.”
As the organization heads deeper into 2025, Wilson is eager to see more participants in the arts program.
In the meantime, mark your calendars: the center’s So-Cal Chef Open is Aug. 12. The annual benefit, hosted by Peltzer Winery in Temecula, features savvy chefs competing for top honors—all for a good cause.
Learn more at oakgrovecenter.org.
This story originally appeared in the Press Enterprise, June 2025.
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