As Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County (NHS) continues to address systemic issues affecting underserved communities of Los Angeles County, the NHS Sustainable Communities Initiative celebrated the one-year anniversary of the first Center for Sustainable Communities (CSC), Compton.
NHS, along with partners Metro Community Development Corporation and Pacific Coast Regional Small Business Development Corporation, hosted two days of events including a Farmer’s Market and Information Fair and a Community Sustainability Summit.
“We are facing the most severe housing crisis probably in the history of housing, not only in California, but in every major city across the United States. The need for assistance, the need for subsidy, the need for counseling, the need for education is greater than ever before and this is the mission of NHS,” says Sal Mendoza, NHS chairman and senior vice president and manager of City National Bank’s Community Reinvestment Department.
“Home ownership continues to be a way to improve lives, a way to build family wealth, and a way to stabilize communities, to revitalize communities.”
Over the past year, Compton’s CSC. has reached 51,000 households, trained 99 entrepreneurs and local businesspeople, created or retained 53 jobs for youth, and provided 305 pounds of vegetables for food insecure families.
“What makes a neighborhood thrive: housing, health, economic development, small business, transit, affordable opportunities for people to start their lives and keep their lives running,” says Lori Gay, president and CEO of NHS. “The question is how do we do that; how do we serve to a community like [Compton].”
The Sustainable Communities Initiative serves as a catalyst for achieving broader community and personal empowerment goals that will help low-income families most adversely impacted by economic divestment. By ensuring capital reinvested addresses financial and social concerns of LA County’s most distressed communities, NHS continues to create a sustainable future for underserved neighborhoods.
Gay also extended special thanks to presenting sponsor Luther Burbank Savings, title sponsor City National Bank, KJLH, NeighborWorks, HSBC, Pacific Mercantile Bank, CIT/One West, as well as community members for supporting the Farmer’s Market and Sustainable Communities Summit.
