Seeds of Hope Sown at Drug Facility

Irit Barnetzer knows that sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference.

Barnetzer is the children’s services coordinator for Via Avanta, a live-in mental health facility that is the temporary home of 38 women battling drug addictions and 15 of their children under the age of 7.

On Friday, thanks to Barnetzer’s tenacity and the generosity of three landscaping businesses, Via Avanta clients watched as about a dozen trees were planted in the center’s stark cement yard.

The trees will provide welcome shade on hot days and block the view of the nearby 118 Freeway, but most important, Barnetzer said, they will give the children a more enjoyable place to play during their stay at Via Avanta.

“It’s only a few trees, but you have no idea what an impact that can have on the children,” said Barnetzer, who contacted Don Caron, the owner of Valley Crest Landscape, after seeing acres of the company’s trees growing in lots adjacent to the Foothill Freeway.

“I saw those trees and I said, ‘Hey, they have so many trees, they can give us a few for our yard,’ ” Barnetzer said.

“This young lady called me and she had a line so good I just couldn’t resist her,” said Caron, who credited two other companies, Valley Crest Trees of San Fernando and Norman’s Nursery of San Gabriel, with donating the trees that his company planted Friday at Via Avanta.

“It’s going to make the place look a little more homey,” said Heather Hathaway, 29, who lives at the center with her 5-year-old son. “Before, it was kind of drab. It’s nice to know that people care enough to do this.”

Via Avanta, operated by the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center, is funded primarily through county grants. Typical stays last from nine to 12 months, and the women generally are referred by the court or the county Department of Children and Family Services.

In many cases, Via Avanta is the last stop before their children are taken from them, said Sharon Cohen, program director.

“We try to make them feel like this is their home,” Cohen said. “What was here before offered no greenery, no nurturing. This is going to be great for the ladies and their children.”