Volunteer to Help Participate in the 2015 Homeless Count

Come out and help change a life!  At the end of this month, we will have the opportunity to contribute to the county-wide Homeless Count 2015!  The results of the Homeless Count 2015 will determine how resources are allocated across Los Angeles County.  Our neighborhoods in South LA desperately need these resources to help us care for all our families housed, vulnerable to homelessness and hunger, and homeless. Now more then ever, homeless folks are finding shelter in South LA, while resources are concentrated elsewhere.  A complete count can ensure we have the tools to make a change!

Please mark you calendars for January 29th, and come out and volunteer!!

• No experience necessary, you will be trained and supported through the process.

If you would like more information on the Homeless Count 2015, please check out the The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

Volunteer with the Empowerment Congress West Area Team by signing up on our NationBuilder team page.

If you have any additional questions or concerns you can contact me, my information is below.

Thank you, and I will see you on January 29th, at 8pm!

Ashley K. Thomas
Empowerment Congress West Area, Area 3 Rep, Outreach Committee Chair
Homeless Count 2015, Empowerment Congress West Area Deployment Cite Coordinator

ashleykthomas@ecwandc.org
ashleykthomas@gmail.com

Read the LA Times’ editorial for more information on the 2015 Homeless Count!

CicLAvia Visits SouthLA

NO CARS ALLOWED. CicLAvia is the event that shuts down different streets around LA in support of any other transportation other than cars, ideally bikes but open to feet, skateboards, rollerskates, scooters, etc.   December 7’s CicLAvia South LA will mark the furthest southern CiciLAvia.   The LA event, which shuts down streets to cars and opens them up to other forms of transportation allows LA to slow down for and take in the many things so quickly pass in our cars.  The event also allows the community to showcase business along the routes choosen for the event.  The route will travel six miles from a Leimert Park Village hub down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to a northern and southern hub along Central Ave.

CicLAvia is Coming South!

CicLAvia

Urban Gardens of LA

Have you ever dreamed of turning a blighted empty lot into a thriving edible oasis of health, well you may have your opportunity now.  Under the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act 8600 empty lots could be turned in thriving community gardens.  LA City Council passed a motion to encourage landowners to lease their underused land to people who want to grow their own food in trade for a property tax adjustment.  The law which was passed last year is a great way to push health eating in the urban  community’s and can’t wait to see this initiative actually take effect.

LA Council Introduce Tax Breaks For Community Garden Space

2014 Ladera Walk Around The Park

The annual Ladera Walk Around The Park is back upon us.   Promoting healthy and safety within our young community participants are encourage to come out and walk around the Ladera Park starting at 2pm  August 16th.  Supporters :Wells Fargo, Nestle, Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Whole Foods, Magic Johnson Foundation, Broadway Federal Bank, Deuce Brand, United Oil, Mike’s Deli, Earle’s Grille, Pann”s Restaurant.

Ladera Walk Around The Park

Ribbon Cutting For MLK Outpatient Center

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Wednesday May 28th 9:30am

The new Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center, with its bright floors and gleaming steel and glass picture windows, is ready for its close-up. On May 28, the doors will be opened for a ribbon cutting ceremony and public viewing. Whether it’s the high-tech specialized clinics such as the blood infusion bay for chemotherapy patients, the stroke rehabilitation suite or the oral surgery center, the MLK Outpatient Center promises to deliver the very best in preventive and primary care for residents.

“The main message coming out of this building will be that we can help you stay well and get well,” said Dr. Mark Ghaly, deputy director Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

After nearly two years of construction, the $172 million-county-run center will begin serving the public on June 17. With approximately 70 specialty clinics offering a range of services from pediatric and obstetric care to orthopedics and neurology, the Outpatient Center is an important component of the county’s plan to deliver quality primary care and preventive services to keep people healthy.

There are five operating rooms for outpatient surgical procedures, in addition to rehabilitation services and a wide array of diagnostic services. The urgent care center will operate seven days a week, 16 hours-a-day for urgent needs.

New MLK Outpatient Center

South LA Kids Bike Festival

Join us for a Free Kids Skills and Safety Festival! Learn how to ride your bike safely, start and stop properly, avoid hazards, yielding, ride an obstacle course and more! We’ll even have a limited supply of bikes and helmets for those without.

Fun for all ages.
Skills stations.
On-street group rides.
Certificates and goody bags.
Bike wash.
Helmet giveaways.
Food!

Helmets required for all riders.

Bike Tune ups by El Maestro Bicycle Shop

Presented by Walk ‘n Rollers and LACBC.

Made possible by the USC Good Neighbors Campaign http://goodneighbors.usc.edu/, an employee-giving program that supports university-community partnerships.

http://www.la-bike.org/USCGoodNeighborsGrant

Convey Your Opinion On Kaisers Marlton Square Development

Last week I attend a Crenshaw/Baldwin Hills community meeting focusing on the ‘coming soon’ Kaiser Permenante Medical Offices planned for a portion of Marlton Square.  There were alot of mixed emotions regarding the development, mainly on making sure the building is aesthetically appealing to the community.  Now you will have to email Damien Goodmon to get the details exactly but from what I was able to derive the plans that were/are being consider actually do not adhere to, I forget what the actual name was but basically a specific plan that lays out how development is to be done in ‘The District’.  Like I said, don’t quote, but its something to that degree.  I know a major problem that community touched upon was the large open space in the middle of the development VS the amount of parking lots.  One of the main arguements was that the green space should be in front of the building, with the building and two side parking lots pushed back.  Well take a look at the plans and formulate your opinions, then email them to Kaiser Permenante Project Representative, Skyler Denniston, Skyler.X.Denniston@kp.org.

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Kaiser Permenante Marlton Square Development Plan

‘A Night At The Forum’

The Forum in Inglewood had not officially reopened on Monday evening, January 13. Yet, the iconic venue has already helped raise millions of dollars to fight pancreatic cancer.  The Forum in Inglewood hosted “A Night At The Forum” to benefit The Lustgarten Foundation, the nation’s largest nonprofit funder of pancreatic cancer research.

It was the Inaugural West Coast fundraising gala for the Lustgarten Foundation, marking the first event held at the reinvented “Fabulous” Forum.

The sold-out gala fundraiser raised more than $12.5 million. This included nearly $2.5 million that will go directly to supporting The Lustgarten Foundation’s efforts to detect the disease earlier, develop better treatments, and ultimately, find a cure.

Stand Up To Cancer also announced that one of its funding partners would commit an additional $10 million to help support the ongoing fight to beat this lethal disease.  And because Cablevision Systems Corporation, The Madison Square Garden Company and AMC Networks agreed to underwrite the event, all proceeds raised from ‘A Night at The Forum’ are going directly to pancreatic cancer research.

$12.5 Million Raised For Pancreatic Cancer at the Newly Renovated Forum

A Night At The Forum

8th Annual Taste of Soul Is Back Upon Us!

Taste of Soul is back upon us!  This Saturday, October 19, 2013 one of the largest street festival, if not the largest in Los Angeles, will descend upon South Los Angeles.  Last years turnout exceeded  300,000! Taste of Soul brings out over 400 vendors supplied with good food and a variety of other merchandise along a 1.1 mile radius of the Crenshaw Blvd.  From 10am to 7pm ‘TOS’ will be in full swing.  Taste of Soul is FREE and so are all the performances!  Just be sure to bring plenty of spending money for all the great FOOD and get to the stages earlier to see your favorite performers!  Avant, Mario, RaVaughn, and Glenn Lewis are just a few of the  many performers set to grace the stage.

7th Annual ‘Taste Of Soul’

#TOS2013

Victory Garden Blooms in West Athtens

The West Athens Victory Garden, which takes its name from the World War II-era campaign that encouraged thousands of Americans to grow their own food, has replaced an empty lot that was once blighted the neighborhood. The garden features 30 raised garden beds, which residents applied for, it boasts fruit trees, a play structure for children, a walking path along the entire perimeter and a rainwater cistern, that will catch as much as 1700 gallons of water annually—enough to provide water for most of the fruit trees that have been planted in the garden.  Much of the garden was built for kids.

Victory Gardens in West Athens