For the past four months, journalist and USC student Melissa Leu visited the monthly meetings of the neighborhood council Voices of 90037. During her time, she found out a lot about how hyper-local politics operate in underserved communities. Voices of 90037 represent the a strip just north of Watts. It sits between the 110 and Flower Street, south of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to 62nd Street.

Leu captures the challenges and inspiration of the Voices of 90037 through a series profiling members of the council.

Kenneth Ward became an Area 1 representative for the Voices of 90037 Neighborhood Council to fight for his senior citizens. As a manager for Stovall Terrace, a senior citizen housing complex, Ward says being a board member is lots of hard work, but very rewarding. In his four years as a representative, he’s pushed to create a better community through more police patrols and expanding senior citizen housing.

Come back Friday, January 6, for the next profile!