Black Male Youth In Los Angeles Subject Of New Online Community

California Community Foundation launches IamBLOOM.com to improve job and education prospects for Black males 14-18 years old with probation experience

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- California Community Foundation (CCF) has launched IamBLOOM ( www.iambloom.com), a new website and online community about and for young Black men in Los Angeles, as part of a strategic initiative to create a viable pathway to better educational and job opportunities for Black male youth who have been involved with the probation system.

IamBLOOM features the profiles of the Black males 14-18 years of age in Los Angeles who are turning their lives around, as well as opportunities for companies, government agencies, charitable foundations, service organizations and concerned individuals to provide much-needed support. 

The visually impactful, user-friendly website allows visitors to:

• view and read the personal bios of the young men being helped through BLOOM
• engage in dialogue within forums with other members of the online community
• access and post events or opportunities like job fairs, career workshops, etc.
• share content related to or about BLOOM
• volunteer, pledge jobs or educational opportunities, and donate easily to the initiative

"IamBLOOM humanizes one of the most pressing issues in the Los Angeles community: what to do for young Black men with great potential but enormous odds against them," said Robert Lewis, BLOOM Initiative Director. "We want to counter stereotypes and facilitate a way for community, business and educational institutions to start working together to significantly reduce, if not eliminate those odds."

IamBLOOM is part of the Building a Lifetime of Options and Opportunities for Men (BLOOM) Initiative of CCF, the only philanthropic effort that focuses on redirecting Black males previously involved with the L.A. County probation system to a brighter future. Started in May of 2012, BLOOM seeks to create jobs and educational opportunities for at least 2,000 young Black men ages 14-18 by 2017.

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