LAKE VIEW TERRACE : Human Service Groups Gather at Conference

About 50 leaders of nonprofit groups and government agencies serving the Pacoima area gathered at a conference Thursday designed to foster cooperation and cement ties among human service providers.

Sponsored by Bridge Focus, a Burbank-based community organizing group, the conference was held at the Phoenix Academy at Lake View Terrace.

“We’re hoping that by bringing all these different groups together, we could overcome the competitiveness between different agencies that are providing services to the same group of people,” said Ilene Shapiro of Bridge Focus.

Representatives from a myriad of governmental and private, nonprofit groups showed up to attend workshops on intercultural cooperation, interagency cooperation and team building.

Among the groups represented at the daylong event were: the San Fernando Valley Partnership, Friends of the Family, Hathaway Children’s Services, representatives from Councilman Richard Alarcon’s and Assemblyman Richard Katz’s offices, the Pacoima Coordinating Council, Meeting Each Need With Dignity, the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley, the San Fernando Health Center, the Los Angeles County Probation Department, the American Cancer Society and others.

Karen Bass, executive director of the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, delivered the keynote address. Bass stressed that activists and others in the human services field must develop sharp political skills in order to detect--and, if needed, to combat--policies that negatively affect those who need help the most, including minorities, immigrants and those living in alcohol-, drug- and violence-plagued communities.

“Let’s understand the relationship between welfare reform and, for example, what it means to the Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando,” Bass said. “Unfortunately, many of us only react when our funding is in jeopardy. Don’t say, ‘It’s not my issue.’ ”

Bass also cited the efforts of state and national political leaders to diminish affirmative action policies as an issue that is important for “all of the youth of this community.”

“All will be severely affected if you let it pass,” she said. “It will divide us.”

June Small, a community outreach specialist with the county probation department, said the conference was an excellent way to network with other agencies and people who might have new ideas.

“I work a lot on prevention and intervention with teens,” Small said. “I want to do more projects focusing on school-to-work transition so teens learn the job skills they’ll need at an earlier age.

“Attitude, and instilling the work ethic, is a key to saving our youth. I thought this (conference) would be a good way to see what others are doing.”

BORIS YARO / Los Angeles Times