More than 200 people and 30 South LA community organizations gathered at Bethune Middle School in April to discuss aspects of healthy living and the needs of their neighborhoods. The California Endowment sponsored the event as part of their Building Healthy Communities program. Several South LA nonprofits took a moment to describe the goals and functions of their organizations. Take a listen below!
Benjamin Torres
Benjamin Torres is the president and CEO of CDTech, a development group that works to address poverty-related issues in South LA. One of the strengths of the South LA community, Torres says, is the ability for people to come together. He cites the day’s event as just one example–several members of his organization were at another community gathering just the night before, celebrating approved plans for a new community housing development.
Karen Mack
LA Commons was founded by Karen Mack over eight years ago. The idea was to use culture to connect and bring individuals together. Since the organization’s inception, Mack has seen a flourishing of different kinds of arts within the Leimert Park community.
Cesar Portillo and Ruby Chevreuil
For Cesar Portillo and Ruby Chevreuil, one of the biggest problems they see in South LA is that mental health issues in children go undiagnosed. LA Child Guidance has walk-in hours in as a service to both kids and their parents.
Charles Fields
Charles Fields gives more inside into the California Endowment’s strategic plan, Building Healthy Communities.
