A number of non-profit organizations and healthcare programs around the Downtown area are expected to receive chunks of money as part of a Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard — a Democrat who represents Downtown, parts of the Pico-Union, Westlake, and Historic Filipinotown districts to the west, much of the Eastside, and portions of southeast Los Angeles County — recently announced $2.9 million in funding that's expected to flow to the local efforts. Roybal-Allard portrayed the funding as immediate help as the effects of the economic recession continue to roll through the city, state and nation. She also said the money hold the potential to bring longer-lasting improvements, as well.
Roybal-Allard sought the funds that are included in the bill for the following programs, among others located in the 34th District:
* $300,000 for Homeboy Industries in the Chinatown district north of Downtown. The money will go toward a Solar Panel Training Program at the non-profit social-service organization, with an aim of educating former gang members, at-risk youth, and young adults recently released from detention, according to Roybal-Allard. Classes will enroll 40 students in 10-week cycles, "providing concrete skills training and a pathway to jobs in a growing field, as well as supporting a city- and nation-wide commitment to green energy."
* $400,000 to Good Samaritan Hospital in the Westlake district west of Downtown. The fund will be used to upgrade and renovate the hospital's Peripheral Vascular Disease Lab. The renovation is intended to raise the quality of cardiac and diabetic care (see related story, page 1) available to patients, improve the hospital's capacity to treat the increasing numbers of patients in need of such care, and ensure that they patients have access to immediate, state-of-the-art care in an emergency, according to Roybal-Allard. The funds will also allow Good Samaritan's Heart Institute to "train new interventional cardiologists to perform complex procedures and help the hospital advance its limb salvage, acute myocardial infarction, acute stroke intervention, and heart failure programs."
* $250,000 to the Filipino-American Service Group in the Historic Filipinotown district northwest of Downtown. The non-profit organization will use the funds to pay for case management and job training for homeless adults participating in a transitional housing program, which includes lodging an meals at the organization's 20-bed shelter, according to Roybal-Allard. The program has an objective of "placing the client in permanent housing and increasing his/her skills, income, and sense of self-determination through case management, job training, integration into the Filipino-American Service Group's supportive services, and follow-up service for up to a year.
The financial support will come from a $727 billion package that includes $567 billion in funding that's mandated for federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The $160.7 billion in spending for other programs represents an increase of approximately 3% over last year.
"I am particularly gratified that the measure includes $2.9 million in federal funding for a wide variety of local initiatives benefiting families in the 34th District," Roybal-Allard said. "I am pleased to have been able to secure funding for important community healthcare efforts to address critical issues such as the prevalence of diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in the Latino community. The legislation also provides funding for workforce training programs that provide job seekers with the skills needed to secure employment in today's tough job market as well as after school educational programs to keep at-risk youth on the right track."
Most observers expected the bill to pass the U.S. Senate and be signed into law by President Barack Obama in the near future.
More info:
* Homeboy Industries
* Good Samaritan Hospital
* Filipino American Service Group, Inc.
Sam Hassan is a writer for the L.A. Garment & Citizen.
Images for collage from Homeboy Industries, Good Samaritan Hospital and Filipino American Service Group websites.
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