LADERA HEIGHTS : Child Care Group Faces Funding Cuts

The child development organization Crystal Stairs Inc. marks its 15-year anniversary with an open house and health fair Saturday at a time when it is trying to raise its profile under the threat of government funding cutbacks.

Co-founded in 1980 by doctors Karen Hill-Scott and Alice Walker Duff, Crystal Stairs serves more than 20,000 children and adults in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. It has several components that aim to strengthen families: the Alternative Payment Program, which helps low-income families with child care; the Child Care Food Program, which provides 24,000 meals to 12,000 children daily, and the Child Care Resource and Referral Service, which refers South-Central and southwest Los Angeles parents to quality child care providers.

Other programs are Greater Avenues to Independence, a state-funded educational and jobs training program for recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children; a respite care program for abused and neglected children, and the Sage Child Care center at the Nickerson Gardens public housing development.

The organization also coordinates special projects such as the Christopher Hall Cheston Memorial Library, a resource library on child care and child development that is housed at the Crystal Stairs office.

Spokeswoman Regina Jones said that boosting the profile of Crystal Stairs, normally a low-key operation, is critical in the climate of waning government funds. The organization administers several government programs and relies heavily on federal and state funding.

“The reality is, we’ve got to become more visible,” she said. “We’ve never really had an anniversary before. But now is the time. . . . Like the poem said, ‘You can’t give up.’ ”

The event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. at the organization’s headquarters, 5105 W. Goldleaf Circle.

Information: (213) 299-8998.