Jason Lee at 2021 Ebony Power 100 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on October 23, 2021 in Beverly Hills, CA (Credit: Depositphotos)
*Stockton Vice Mayor and Councilman Jason Lee has secured a major financial win for his nonprofit and the community he serves. Hollywood Cares Foundation has been awarded $12.4 million in state funding to construct a youth behavioral health center in Stockton, California.
As Hollywood Unlocked reports, the grant, announced by Governor Gavin Newsom on March 6, will finance construction of the I Am Ready Stockton Youth Center — a behavioral health campus on South Center Street. The facility is expected to be complete by January 2028 and will extend services to youth and families across the region.
The funding originates from Proposition 1, a $6.4 billion bond measure approved by California voters in 2024 to increase access to mental health and substance use services throughout the state. The California Department of Health Care Services channeled the award through its Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, which works to grow treatment options at the community level. Statewide, $1.18 billion has been allocated to support 66 projects spanning 130 facilities.
Jason Lee attends the 65th GRAMMY Awards on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/WireImage)
Newsom said of the announcement, “Proposition 1 is doing exactly what we promised it would do: transforming California’s behavioral health system. In just two years, we didn’t just meet our goal of creating 6,800 treatment beds. We exceeded it. That means we’re finally closing the gap that’s left too many communities without the care they need.”
Lee founded Hollywood Cares Foundation in 2022 with a mission rooted in serving young people from under-resourced communities. HCF runs a range of programs touching on youth leadership, civic participation, and personal growth, including back-to-school summits, teen workshops, and its annual Toys for Joy Christmas event.
The new center will house mental health and respite services for youth, afterschool initiatives, and workforce and life-skills training — resources Lee has long fought to bring to some of Stockton’s most underserved residents.
Lee described the award as “a transformative investment in the mental health and well-being of young people in Stockton.”
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