Help Not Getting to Needy, Valley Study Indicates

The San Gabriel Valley has plenty of nonprofit and government agencies offering help to the poor, but misguided efforts are keeping that help from getting through to many of the people--especially in the central portion of the valley--who need it badly, a United Way study indicates.

The results are so jarring that the valley’s 1,400 social service agencies should be prompted into revamping their missions in order to meet the real needs of real people, said Kristine Morris, co-chair of the 52-member volunteer Community Partnership Committee that put together the report.

“We wanted to understand first of all what the needs are,” she said. “We recognize that they are not the needs that existed five or 10 years ago. . . . It’s taking the knowledge we have and making it more human again. It’s not just numbers and graphs. These are real people out there with real problems.”

Many people in need are ignorant of the help that is available, the report states; some feel uncomfortable going to strangers for help. Public transportation is often limited, the social service agencies are understaffed and child care is unavailable or unaffordable. But the study does not make any recommendations about how agencies can change their services or the way they offer them.

The study found that central San Gabriel Valley residents are dramatically poorer and more crowded than their neighbors elsewhere in the valley.

The 218-page, two-year study found that the central valley--Baldwin Park, El Monte, Rosemead, South El Monte, Valinda and west Puente Valley--has the highest population density, largest average household size, highest level of unemployment, lowest per-capita income and highest percentage of people living in poverty.

“I was genuinely surprised at the striking disparity between (the central valley) and surrounding communities,” Morris said. “The disparity was so great that I was not just surprised by it, I was shocked by it.”

More than half the people 25 and older in the central valley lack a high school diploma, the study found, and their per-capita income is little more than a third of that in the northwestern portion of the valley.

The study follows up a preliminary November report that cited statistics on the dramatic changes in the valley’s social, economic and racial makeup. For the latest report, volunteers compiled five telephone books worth of data, including 1990 U.S. Census figures, written surveys of community experts and nonprofit organizations, telephone surveys of 501 random households and 12 multicultural focus groups.

“The degree to which there was a need for just the basics of life--a reasonable place to live, housing that is up to code, and enough funds to meet just the basic needs of individuals and families--that was higher than might have otherwise been suspected,” said David Klein, chairman of the report’s Data Analysis Committee and executive director of the Pasadena Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency. “All of us have been galvanized by all this to look at basic needs and basic issues.”

The report also looks at needs in specific ethnic and demographic groups and cites the lack of health insurance among Latinos as one of its most disturbing findings. According to the unscientific household survey, 81% of families are covered by insurance; among Latinos, the comparable figure is 69%. Among households in which Spanish is the primary language, that figure drops to 60%.

Other responses were gathered from homeless people, who said they can’t get jobs without being able to provide a permanent address or phone number; gays and lesbians, who said that hate crimes are on an upswing but that police are not supportive, and disabled people, who said there is a lack of access to medical care and affordable housing.

Valley’s Social Services Needs A comprehensive United Way report on the state of social services in the San Gabriel Valley indicates that the need is greatest in the central valley. For the first time, the United Way report documents where the valley’s needs are by specific areas: Northwest (Altadena, Arcadia, East Pasadena, La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena); Southwest (Alhambra, east San Gabriel, Monterey Park, north El Monte, San Gabriel, south San Gabriel, Temple City); East (Azusa, Covina, Duarte, Glendora, Hacienda Heights, City of Industry, Irwindale, Monrovia, Rowland Heights, West Covina), and Central (Baldwin Park, El Monte, La Puente, Rosemead, South El Monte, Valinda, west Puente Valley). Population density (people per square mile) Northwest: 4,649 Southwest: 9,066 East: 3,992 Central: 10,337

Average household size Northwest: 2.66 Southwest: 2.96 East: 3.1 Central: 4.09

Per-capita income Northwest: $23,683 Southwest: $14,090 East: $15,832 Central: $8,900

Unemployed Northwest: 5.1% Southwest: 5.8% East: 5.5% Central: 9.1%

Percentage of people age 25 and over with no high school diploma Northwest: 16% Southwest: 26.6% East: 21.1% Central: 50.7%

Percentage of people below the poverty level Poverty level is $12,674 for family of four Northwest: 10.1% Southwest: 13.4% East: 8.5% Central: 18%

Ethnic breakdown Totals will exceed 100% because Latino origin category includes people in ‘other’ category; also, some people claimed more than one ethnic group Northwest: Black: 14.5% White: 63.1% Asian Pacific Islander: 12.5% Native American: .4% Other: 9.5% Latino: 18.5% Southwest: Black: 1.3% White: 44.2% Asian Pacific Islander: 38.4% Native American:.4% Other: 15.7% Latino: 32% East: Black: 5.5% White: 66.7% Asian Pacific Islander: 14.7% Native American: .5% Other: 12.6% Latino: 31.9% Central: Black: 1.9% White: 57% Asian Pacific Islander: 14.3% Native American: .6% Other: 26.1% Latino: 68.9%