Neighborhood Spotlight: Southeast LA
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Image: https://laist.com/2020/09/04/mis_angeles_hood_renovationz_southeast_la_huntington_park.php
The heart behind TogetherLA is self-evident in our name: we want to promote and help foster people in Los Angeles coming together to better our communities. Today, we want to highlight some of the incredibly inspiring collaborations and organizations in Southeast LA, which encompasses the cities around 5-10 miles southeast of Downtown. Historically, Southeast LA primarily housed manufacturing warehouses and its workers. As these warehouses began to close down, wealthier residents fled to nicer areas while Southeast LA became increasingly impoverished.
Today, the area is predominantly lower socio-economic, and is affected by major pollution and climbing housing costs. While many in the area have disadvantaged circumstances, their residents are coming together to do incredible things to improve their community.
SELA Collaborative
SELA Collaborative is exactly of the kind of collaboration that we need to see in the world. It’s actually a network of organizations that work together to increase civic engagement and strengthen nonprofit work in Southeast LA. They provide direct support to nonprofits in the form of incubation, assessment, and leadership development. Beyond that, they also help foster civic engagement by creating public spaces for the community to learn and interact with key issues and policies. They are a key example of how this community is coming together and uniting their efforts.
Hood Renovationz
Earlier this year, three friends came together and decided to start making a tangible difference in their community using the skills and resources they had. Working off of community donations, they give away home renovations to marginalized residents, which can drastically improve one’s day-to-day standard of living. In the short time since they’ve begun this work, Hood Renovationz has completed a kitchen remodel, bedroom renovations, various essential home repairs, and recently began building desks for students having to adjust to distance learning. There are many large scale organizations and efforts that slowly create positive change, but Hood Renovationz makes immediate and dramatic impact one household at a time.
Southeast Community Foundation
Education is one of the foundational ways to transform a community, which is exactly what inspired the Southeast Community Foundation to be founded in 2015. Many students in the area don’t complete high school, so this organization takes on a personal approach to foster students’ education. Their sponsorship program works with the students to establish goals and offers direct support to help them work toward their aspirations.
Chicas Rockeras South East Los Angeles
Underprivileged areas often don’t have the resources to foster creativity and the arts, so Chicas Rockeras was formed to be a safe, transformative space for girls to explore music. It’s a collective of women from the community, including educators and musicians, to learn about and create a wide range of musical genres. Their programs promote “healing, growth, and confidence…through music education while building self-esteem and encouraging group collaboration.”
https://www.chicasrockerassela.org/