Local News in Brief : Conference to Explore Homelessness in Valley

Homelessness in the San Fernando Valley will be explored at a daylong conference sponsored by a coalition of organizations Feb. 8 at California State University, Northridge. The keynote speaker will be Madeline Stoner, assistant dean of the USC School of Social Work.

Mayor Tom Bradley and county Supervisor Ed Edelman are among elected officials expected to attend the 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. event.

Organizers said a purpose of the conference, the first of its kind to be held in the Valley, is to bring together the efforts of fragmented organizations.

“This is more than just an informational thing,” said Nancy Bianconi, executive director of Better Valley Services Inc., one of the event’s sponsors. “It’s really to set up a coalition that will do things. There have been enough studies and meetings.”

Homeless children, fund raising for shelters, counting the homeless and legal and health problems of the homeless are among topics the conference will explore.

Also sponsoring the conference are the CSUN departments of educational psychology, health science and child development, the National Assn. of Social Workers, the Salvation Army, the San Fernando Valley Fair Housing Council, San Fernando Valley Friends of Homeless Women, Children Inc. and the Valley Interfaith Council.