Valleywide : HUD Lauds Workers for Quake Assistance

To some, the events of Jan. 17, 1994, may seem a distant, disturbing memory.

But for Valerie Aivazian, a city Housing Authority employee who spent months after the Northridge earthquake helping low-income victims find places to live, the day’s effects linger. Two weeks ago, she finally returned to her Studio City home after renting a house nearby while it was repaired.

On Wednesday, Aivazian joined approximately 350 of her colleagues at a 2 1/2-hour reception in Hollywood organized to thank them for their service. The Housing Authority estimates that it helped approximately 12,000 quake victims find shelter after the quake.

During the reception, each employee received a certificate of appreciation from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros, although HUD officials were unable to attend due to the federal government “shutdown.”

“To me, this certificate means very, very much,” Aivazian said. “Everybody worked hard, from their heart.”

Sherman Oaks resident Kathleen Lorenzen said she routinely spent 18-hour days in the disaster assistance centers that popped up around Los Angeles to help quake victims--so much time that her two children ultimately volunteered in the centers just to see her, she said.

“I think I slept a little,” she joked.

But throughout the difficult days and weeks she spent in charge of staffing the disaster centers as the city tried to rebuild itself, Lorenzen said she never lost hope.

“The most incredible thing happened,” she said. “There was such a feeling of camaraderie. I thought, ‘The city is going to recover.’ ”