Whole Systems Learning

Greetings,

Our mission is to provide African American and Latinx male youth, and all returning citizens, a support system for pathways to purpose through creativity, careers, culture, and trauma healing. We serve at-risk youth, returning citizens, and system-impacted community members across North Long Beach and South Los Angeles, working out of a roughly 20,000 square foot facility with round-the-clock access.

Every participant enters through T.R.I.B.E., Turning Resilience Into Brilliance for Eternity, our flagship 12-week program built around Know Thyself, Emotional Awareness, Healing Circles, Conflict Resolution, Emotional Intelligence, and Entrepreneurship and Wealth Building. Participants with strong attendance can earn a stipend of up to $500. From there, each person is connected to a dedicated case worker who provides one-on-one support: help finding a job, getting an ID or driver's license, securing transportation, or accessing other essential resources. Staff maintain case notes, progress notes, and internal records so support stays coordinated and funders can see exactly how their dollars are used.

Workforce and entrepreneurial development run alongside case management. Our Video Audio Program is a 12-week course in camera operation, video editing, sound mixing, and audio equipment handling, also eligible for a $500 completion stipend. Art 2 Wear teaches youth, including those who have experienced foster care, homelessness, gang involvement, or trauma, to design original T-shirt artwork and build entrepreneurship skills through marketing and small business training. Our building also houses three free creative spaces open to the community five days a week: a recording studio, a podcasting suite, and a content creation room.

For teens and young adults with nowhere else to turn, our facility includes a 24/7 youth space staffed around the clock, offering a safe place, a warm meal, and same-day connection to resources the next morning. Most of the young people who come to us live in North Long Beach and Compton and are looking to move away from gangs, homelessness, or legal trouble. This year, we expanded that space to add a youth-run print shop, a fitness room, and dedicated meeting space designed by our own youth advisory council.

Since our first cohort of 20 participants three years ago, nearly 180 teens and young adults have come through T.R.I.B.E. Earlier this year, we mobilized staff and community members to defend a $500,000 California Reducing Disparities Project grant that was at risk during the state budget process, funding that supports eight full-time positions on our team. That grant was preserved, a reflection of the relationships we have built with state and local partners.

We work alongside CEO Works, Long Beach Community Action Partnership, Amity Foundation, Weingart Foundation, Pacific Gateway, and the LA County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department. These partnerships extend our reach and reinforce a model built on accountability and documented outcomes, not just good intentions.

Whole Systems Learning is not a substance abuse treatment provider. We do not run a rehab program. What we offer is structure, mentorship, safe engagement, and real alternatives, the kind that help someone choose a different path before the justice system, the streets, or a crisis forces the choice for them.

A gift through Long Beach Gives supports the day-to-day work behind that choice: a case worker returning a call, a stipend that keeps a teenager showing up, a safe bed on a hard night, and a staff that shows up in Sacramento or in a courtroom when a young person's future is on the line. We are based at 161 W. Victoria St., Suite 255, Long Beach, CA 90805, and we are open Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, with youth services available around the clock.