Cisco Systems Foundation Awards Grants to Hometown Charities; $1.9 Million in Grants Will Help Local Nonprofits Make Positive Changes in Their Communities.

Business & News Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 2002

The Cisco Systems Foundation today announced its bi-annual San Jose Community Grant awards, one of several grant programs sponsored by Cisco Corporate Philanthropy, to local social service agencies and nonprofit groups.

These awards reflect the Foundation's overall support of community-based organizations dedicated to alleviating homelessness and hunger, improving healthcare services for children and the elderly, providing career and computer training for disadvantaged and disabled individuals, and enriching youth and adult education through technology and the arts.

The grants are being made through the San Jose Community Grants program, a five-year-old initiative that funds successful, established programs run by nonprofits located within 50 miles of company headquarters in San Jose.

"At Cisco, we want to do our part in building lasting solutions to the many issues facing our community," said Tae Yoo, vice president of corporate philanthropy. "We thank these organizations for giving Cisco the opportunity to partner with them in serving our community.

"These charitable organizations provide vital services in education, generate and sustain community service, and help meet basic human needs, such as food, shelter and healthcare."

This fiscal year, about $1.9 million was awarded to nearly 150 community and nonprofit groups. Funding is being used in a variety of innovative ways to provide vital services in education, arts education, shelter, food, health and community service. These grants help fund programs run by community groups. For example:

-- In San Jose, Goodwill of Santa Clara County will provide specialized training in information technology to more than 25 low-income adults through its A+ Certification Program. The grant will be used to fund a job-placement specialist to help graduates gain employment as PC technicians.

-- Also in San Jose, Arts Council Silicon Valley will continue its ArtsConnect program to serve at-risk youth. Through ArtsConnect, professional artists work closely with more than 800 students within the Alternative Schools Department of the Santa Clara County Office of Education. This annual arts education program helps troubled youth tap into their creativity and build self-confidence, self-esteem, and a positive outlook. The Arts Council's ArtsConnect program has served more than 10,000 local youth over the past 12 years.

-- In Santa Cruz, New Horizons School will use its grant to support its transitional program for homeless children living in Santa Cruz between the ages of five and 12. Many of these children are impacted by poverty to the extent they are unable to attend public school, and New Horizons School provides education, life skills, meals and transportation to create a caring environment to help these disadvantaged youth move into the mainstream society. With its Cisco Foundation grant, the organization expects to accommodate 24 children this year.

-- In San Leandro, the Deaf Counseling Advocacy and Referral Agency will use its grant to continue its East Bay computer-training program for deaf individuals. Access to computer training enables many deaf, deafened, deaf-blind and hard-of-hearing people obtain the most basic computer skills necessary to obtain most entry-level jobs. The agency expects to train more than 150 people this year.

-- In the East Bay and San Jose areas, Operation Access will expand its successful San Francisco-based outpatient surgeries and consultation program for the uninsured. Most of the patients served are immigrants and low-income single adults without children. Currently 225 medical volunteers, 60 community clinics and 13 private hospitals participate in the program.

-- In Menlo Park, Shelter Network's Haven Family House program will use its Cisco Foundation grant to fund a case manager to provide one-on-one counseling and clinical expertise to help homeless families find permanent housing. Shelter Network is a past grant recipient that has helped more than 150 families and 225 single adults return to homes of their own last year.

The San Jose Community Grants are awarded twice a year, and eligible organizations can receive funding for up to three consecutive years. Since its inception, the program has awarded more than 500 grants amounting to about $7 million to area nonprofits.

About the Cisco Systems Foundation

The Cisco Systems Foundation was established in 1997 by a gift from Cisco Systems, Inc. As Corporate Philanthropy's primary cash investment vehicle, the Foundation provides grants to organizations with long-lasting, local or global impact. More information on the Cisco Systems Foundation is available at www.cisco.com/go/philanthropy