Since 1993, the mission of School on Wheels has never wavered: to enhance educational opportunities for children, kindergarten through twelfth grade, who are experiencing homelessness. Our goal is to shrink the gaps in their learning and provide them with the highest level of education possible. Our program serves as a consistent support system for our students during a time of great stress and fear.
A Message from Our Executive Director Charles Evans
School on Wheels exists so that children experiencing homelessness have an opportunity for success through education. Our work has always focused on bringing academic resources to the children who need them most. For them, relentless racism and this pandemic represent a catastrophic loss of learning. We can no longer ignore the enormous inequities and inequality staring us in the face; the persistent digital divide, so starkly visible now, has greatly impaired our students’ ability to continue learning. Our work now is more important than ever.
CATHERINE MEEK, EXECUTIVE ADVISOR AND BOARD MEMBER
A Year of Impact
We tutor children in over 2,500 square miles of Southern California. Volunteers work one-on-one with students in libraries, after-school clubs, shelters, group foster homes, and school sites.
Our Students
The children we serve are among the most vulnerable and neglected individuals in our nation. Only 64% of students experiencing homelessness graduate high school. Youth without a high school diploma are 4.5 times more likely to experience homelessness as an adult.
Our program consists of year-round tutoring both individually and in group settings. We provide backpacks filled with school supplies, digital learning tools to reduce the tech divide, educational summer programs, and scholarships.
Keep reaching out to find someone that can help you and that you trust. Stay motivated and work on building up your self-esteem so you can apply that confidence in your education.
ANGIE, SCHOOL ON WHEELS STUDENT
Student Locations
One memory that stands out for me is when I questioned the ability of a student to read at her grade level. She looked me straight in the eyes and said, “No I can’t, but I can learn.”
PHILLIP DESAUTELL, VOLUNTEER AT SKID ROW LEARNING CENTER
Student Demographics
I ran away in 2015 and I didn’t care about my future. Now, I know what future I want for myself. I have already come so far and succeeded in accomplishing my first goal of graduating high school. Now I don’t want anything to stop me from achieving my next goal of graduating college.
ANAMARIZ A., SCHOOL ON WHEELS ALUMNI
Our School on Wheels tutor taught my son how to read when the school couldn’t do it. Miss Rice was the perfect one. I don’t know how we were so blessed to have her matched to us. She was wonderful. My son reads at a higher level than anyone in his class now.
SCHOOL ON WHEELS PARENT
School on Wheels has done a tremendous job of bringing together older volunteers with the young people they serve, and creating relationships and results that are transforming the lives of the children in the program.
TRENT STAMP, CEO, THE EISNER FOUNDATION
Our Volunteer Tutors
Our 2,464 amazing volunteers are the heart of our program and it is through their dedication and commitment that students’ lives are changed. In 2019 we trained and matched 1,810 new volunteers. Our youngest volunteers are 12 (and tutor with a guardian) and we have senior volunteers in their 90s!
Once a child achieves self confidence, the hope and optimism they carry is truly inspirational. In January a student of mine was struck in the crossfire of a drive-by. In the weeks following, I tried to be sympathetic to his condition by telling him we could just play games until he felt better. Knowing he had the SATs coming up, he responded, “Games won’t get me into college. We’ll work on math sections.” To contextualize things, this was a student who, not even a year prior, would constantly vocalize that he might as well “pick out a box to live in now” because he felt he had no chance of attending college.
VICTOR MALDONADO, VOLUNTEER
Lucky us to have so many generous donors who care deeply about the education of children without a home. In 2019, you—our amazing supporters and friends—donated $2,550,931! 93 cents of every dollar donated was directly invested in the educational lives of our students and your material donations provided backpacks, bus tokens, school supplies and uniforms to over 7,000 students.
Revenue & Support
Expenses
We are filled with gratitude for our long-time loyal friends and for our brand new friends in 2019.
Thank you all for your encouragement and inspiration.
I appreciate all you do for families who are in a tough spot in their life. When my family was homeless, I found peace and relief at your Learning Center. I loved the volunteers and staff who assisted with our school work and provided us with school supplies. Thank you for showing us the finer things in life and taking us to visit universities, basketball games, museums, the beach, and so much more.
AMEENA, SCHOOL ON WHEELS ALUMNI
A Year in Photos
Your support as a donor is critical to our success. You awarded us significant life-sustaining grants, you walked to raise awareness, you hosted events, you danced, you filled backpacks with school supplies, you shared our student’s stories with your families and friends, and you encouraged your places of work and worship to support your efforts. You paid for buses for field trips and parties and tours for our students and never asked for anything in return. On behalf of our students we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
We are always happy to support organizations like School on Wheels who do great work helping the most vulnerable children in our population succeed in school so they can discover their path to a brighter future.
WINDSONG TRUST
Donor List
Gifts of $100,000+
- Freudenberg Medical
- Windsong Trust
Gifts of $50,000+
- BLT Enterprises
- Dora F. Levit Fund for People
- The Edward A. and Ai O. Shay Family Foundation
- Ralphs Food 4 Less The Kroger Co. Foundation
- Universal Studios Hollywood’s Discover A Star Foundation
Gifts of $40,000+
- Josh Fein and MaryJo Lauterio
- The Roy & Patricia Disney Family Foundation
Gifts of $30,000+
- Steve and Stephanie Dahlberg
- The Kenneth T. & Eileen L. Norris Foundation
- LA Dodgers Foundation
- Margaret M. Bloomfield Family Foundation
- The Sharon D. Lund Foundation
- Smart & Final
Gifts of $20,000+
- George Hoag Family Foundation
- John Calley Foundation Fund
- Joseph Drown Foundation
- The Louis & Harold Price Foundation, Inc.
- The Mark Hughes Foundation
- Property Management Associates, Inc.
- The Ray Charles Foundation
- The Rose Hills Foundation
- Sawchuk Family Foundation
- Peir and Jeff Serota
- Sherwood Family Foundation
- Southern California Development Forum
- Sunair Children’s Foundation
- Wasserman Foundation
Gifts of $10,000+
- Jhene Aiko
- Angels Baseball Foundation
- Bluebird Legacy, Inc
- Bowen H. & Janice Arthur McCoy Charitable Foundation
- California Foundation for Stronger Communities
- Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation
- Catherine and Jarrod Phillips
- Larissa Chapin
- Crail-Johnson Foundation
- ECMC Foundation
- Lynn Gardner and Paul Multari
- Gesner-Johnson Family Foundation
- Golden State Foods Foundation
- Greenfield Foundation
- Ian Chan Running (52 Marathons)
- Suzanne and Paul Kobel
- Laurie Levit and Steven Ades
- Devan and Tara Marshall
- MOCEAN, LLC
- Jeffrey and Tiffany Neu
- O’Melveny & Myers LLP
- Ojai Women’s Fund
- OMD Entertainment
- Orange County Community Foundation
- Pechanga Tribal Council
- Sempra Energy Foundation
- Steinmetz Foundation
- The Sylvain And Marjorie Heumann Family Foundation
- Wild Card Media LLC
Gifts of $5,000+
- Anonymous
- Amazon Digital Services LLC
- Jamie and Misha Bedner
- Bel Air Internet
- Carl E. Wynn Foundation
- The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation
- The Claire & Theodore Morse Foundation
- Comerica Bank
- Stephanie and Steve Dahlberg
- Rima Fakih
- The Foundation of VCCU
- Francis H. Clougherty Charitable Trust
- James and Cheryl Furlan
- Jackson and Jasmine George
- Goldhirsh-Yellin Foundation
- The Harper / Harpoothian Family Fund
- The Herman Foundation
- Impact Club – Conejo Valley
- InSync Plus
- J.K. Barker Foundation
- Rebecca Kelley
- Beong-Soo Kim and Bonnie Wongtrakool
- Ben King
- The Kim and Harold Louie Family Foundation
- LA5 Rotary Club of Los Angeles
- Lark Ellen Lions Charities
- The Looker Foundation
- Martingale and Company
- Catherine Meek and Al Earle
- Steve Miller
- Michelle Paradise
- Modern Parking, Inc.
- Craig Murray
- Ellen and Ben Padnos
- Skip Paul
- Rockwell & Marna Schnabel
- The Rosenthal Family Foundation
- Stephanie Sanford
- Scott Family Foundation, Inc.
- Dora Seiffer
- Sheppard, Mullen, Richter & Hampton
- The Shuki & Tori Levy Foundation
- Southern California Edison
- Jodi Stancampiano
- Lynn and Robert Stone
- The Walt Disney Company Foundation
- USC Bohnett Foundation
Gifts of $2,000+
- Anonymous
- Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.
- Aspect Ratio
- Ron Beck
- Joann & Stan Benson
- Capital Group Companies Global
- Chris Chambers Goodman and Marc Goodman
- Yvonne Derse
- Dog Haus Running Club Philanthroparty
- Frieda C. Fox Family Foundation
- Meghan Geiselman
- Marcie Glenn
- Carol Hannah
- Max Ho
- Charlotte Hughes and Christopher Combs
- Andrew Kahn
- Yalda Kotobi
- Robert Maitino
- Michelle Chiou Foundation
- Lynn Middleton
- MOMS Club of Culver City East
- NBC Universal
- Brigid O’Connor
- Brendan O’Donnell
- Nathanael Parkhill
- The Neiman Group Architects
- Principal Communications Group, LLC
- Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club, Inc.
- Kapil Singh
- Karl and Laura Slovin
- St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church
- Titan Investments, LLC
- University Church of Christ
- William C. Bannerman Foundation
- Suzanne Wilson
- XL Catlin
- Amanda Zaumeyer
- Melissa Zukerman and Benjamin Goldfarb
Gifts of $1,000+
- Anonymous
- Alliance Apparel, Inc.
- Apple Inc.
- Applied Medical
- Atlassian Inc.
- Mary Auth
- Jordan Benudiz
- Richard Bernard
- J. Lynne Boylan
- Ann Buxbaum
- Valerie Cavanaugh and Bill Kerstetter
- Catherine Chambers
- Suet Cheung
- Morgan and Helen Chu
- Covington Capital Management
- Michael Earnhardt
- Laurie Eddleston
- Charles Evans
- Alex Farbstein
- Alex Fazeli
- Richard and Shari Foos
- Frederick R. Weisman Philanthropic Foundation
- Girl Scout Troop 818
- Sanford Goner
- Andrea Gootnick
- George Graham
- Barbara Graper
- Terry and Karen Harstad
- Karen and Jim Houghton
- Howard Huang
- Mike and Trisha Husson
- Homayoun Kandari
- Keep Children In School Foundation Inc.
- Patrick Lacey
- Elaine Lasnik-Broida and Michael Broida
- Suzanne Lerner
- Jennie and Erik Linthorst
- Elizabeth Lutsky
- Makoff Family Foundation
- Alana and Lori Malingagio
- Alicia Markoe
- John and Carolyn Cree Marshall
- Rodney and Donna Mathis
- Chip and Sharyn Moore
- Mitch Moseley
- MWS Wire Industries
- National Center For Women & Information Technology
- Cliff Neiman and Andrea Halloran
- Netflix
- Arianne Neumark
- Mathilde Notaro
- Heidi O’Brien
- Odyssey Charter School
- Ifeyinwa Olie
- Joanna Park
- Lisa Marie Parker Desai
- Parker Resnick Structural Engineering Inc.
- Wendy E. Pearson
- Christopher Pelham
- Erika Pentecost
- Pleasant Valley Lions Club
- Prince of Peace Episcopal Church
- Punch Studio
- Ellen and Donald Raab
- Redgate
- Helene Rioux and Brad Warnaar
- Richard Rizika
- Rebecca Rowland
- Maria Nuria Royo-Gascon
- San Antonio Winery Inc.
- Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
- Momita SenGupta
- Sharpstone Realty Inc.
- John Shaw
- Jerold and Rosemary Shinbane
- Matthew Solari
- Squid & Squash Foundation
- Winnie and John Strohmeyer
- Virginia Tanawong
- Tyler Vernon
- Pat Wastal
- Sue Ellen and Laughlin Waters
- Janet Ambrosi Wertman and Adlai Wertman
- Chris Wilson
- Benjamin Wong
- Andre and Mina Zimmerman
We are delighted to support School on Wheels. Their wonderful staff and volunteers are making such a difference for the many students and families they serve.
MARGARET M. BLOOMFIELD FAMILY FOUNDATION
A Message from Our Board President Josh Fein
Our Board
Steven Dahlberg
President, The Kissel Company, Inc.
Joshua Fein
President, Chief Financial Officer, Property Management Associates, Inc.
Lizeth Flores
Grants Manager, U.S.VETS
Jackson George
Senior Vice President, Disney Studios
Beong-Soo Kim
Senior Vice President and General Counsel, University of Southern California
Laurie Levit
Educational Consultant
Catherine Meek
Executive Advisor
Clifford Neiman
Secretary, Principal, The Neiman Group Architects
Ellen Padnos
Co-Founder, Joyful Giving
Jarrod Phillips
Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, Ares Management
Jonathan Reid
Program Officer, ECMC Foundation
Angela M. Sanchez
Education & Equity Consultant
Lynn Stone
Journalist
Janet A. Wertman
Development Consultant