PACOIMA : Disaster Aid Center Open for Business

The city has certainly not lacked for natural disasters of late, but one wouldn’t know it from a visit to Los Angeles’ first permanent disaster recovery center, which opened last week in Pacoima.

The Earthquake Recovery Community Service Center, which was established by the city as a one-stop service center for disaster relief, has averaged only five visitors a day. Despite its name, it covers all disasters.

The telephones were quiet Friday as workers finished painting trim. The brightly colored children’s play area--its walls emblazoned with the alphabet and mathematical formulas--had yet to be played in by a child.

Beanbag chairs remained perfectly puffed in the corner, unruffled by visitors.

Even so, a second center is slated to open in Canoga Park in February.

Center officials said they expect demand for their services to increase as more residents displaced by last year’s quake realize their housing vouchers will soon expire.

“FEMA is now mailing out notices to people that they should prepare for the termination of their housing aid,” said Arnold Garcia, the center’s interim director, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “That is what brings most of them in here; they are scared.”

Most of the vouchers, however, won’t expire until June.

Parker Anderson, a city official who oversees operation of the site in the Pacoima Community Center, said great pains were taken to make visiting the new service center a pleasant experience.

“We want to make the center a destination point for the community,” Anderson said, explaining the bright decor and new toys. “We are trying to develop a user-friendly focus. The last thing we want to seem like is an institution.”