Community Coalition: Celebrating 20 Years of Change in South LA

The Community Coalition works to ameliorate the South LA social and economic conditions that create people who are prone to addiction, violence, crime and poverty. They strive to create a community that incorporates thousands that change and influence public policy.

Community Coalition’s Stance

• Community: In order to instill core values among South Los Angeles, Community Coalition pushes to actively involve the primarily Latino and African America community to serve as a means of community activism.
• Leadership: Instead of striving to get celebrity sponsors, Community Coalition works to create leaders out of the community. This means that these people will be able to relate on a personal level and people will work together to overcome addiction and violence.
• Education: By using education to develop community knowledge, Community Coalition believes that anyone can have the right tools to push away from falling into the poverty cycle that often leads to addiction.

These three aspects along with advocacy have made Community Coalition build a social movement to push through poverty and the conditions people experience when they fall into the cycle of poverty.

Give Back to Community Coalition

Get involved with Community Coalition. You can volunteer by emailing kusema@cocosouthla.org or call 323-750-9087 or see a lot of different, unique opportunities on their website.

You can also donate to Community Coalition.

You can contact Community Coalition at 8101 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90044.

Union Rescue Mission: The Way Home

The Union Rescue Mission is a embraces homeless people with addictions by giving them hope for a changed life and finding a way home. It is a private organization that works to restore lives to normalcy for the homeless people in LA, hoping to break the cycle of homelessness and lead them to live self-sufficient, self-confident lives.

“Thanks to Union Rescue Mission, I have my son back…” – Andy, father of Marty who was helped by Union Rescue Mission.

Union Rescue Mission Helps People Like Tom Battling Addiction

Tom lost his job to due to a construction accident where he broke his hip. He turned to Union Rescue Mission for help when he was disconnected from his family. Union Rescue Mission works to help people like Tom find a way home.

Giving Back to Union Rescue Mission

You can volunteer and donate with the union rescue mission. Visit their website to get involved with the projects that need immediate attention. In order to volunteer with the Union Rescue Mission, you will need to attend an orientation and pick a place to volunteer. See the volunteer opportunities at Union Rescue Mission.

You can also donate to Union Rescue Mission. You can donate online, or by phone or mail. Their phone number is 1-888-77-THE-WAY-HOME or by mail at Union Rescue Mission, Internet Donations, 545 S San Pedro St, Los Angeles, CA 90013.

Mary Lind Recovery Centers: Residential Substance Abuse Recovery to the Homeless

Since 1949, the Mary Lind Recovery Centers have given residential treatment to homeless people suffering from substance abuse and addiction in Southern California. Focusing on central Los Angeles and Skid Row who have the highest poverty rate at 33%. The Mary Lind Center serves over 300 people at a time – most of them are homeless.

The Mary Lind Recover Center wants to work to make men and women dependent on welfare and alcohol to become parts of society and self sufficient. Through recovery, education and job training, lives can be reshaped and sobriety can be maintained.

Addiction Among the Homeless

Fifty to sixty percent of all homeless people report having relied on substances or abusing substances at some point in their life when compared to ten percent of the non-homeless population depending on substances.

A lot of this is to blame on the mistreatment or ignoring of treatment for homeless individuals that are addicted to drugs and alcohol. People who have substance abuse problems are more likely to stay homeless than homeless people who do not, and they are two times as likely to be arrested. Common substances abused by homeless people are alcohol, meth amphetamines, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana.

Give Back to the Mary Lind Recovery Centers

Donating is an easy way to support the Mary Lind Recovery Centers. You can make your checks payable to:

Mary Lind Recovery Centers
2500 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90057

For more information contact Ed Woodhull (Executive Director) at 213-382-4241 or check out the Mary Lind Recovery Center website.

 

People in Progress: Creating Self-Reliance, Building Addiction Free Lives

People in Progress has given intervention support and substance-abuse support to families and individuals in crisis targeting those who need help in their struggle with substance abuse, economic deprivation, hunger and homelessness. People in Progress believes that this helps people to create self-reliance and to build addiction-free lives.

Serving over 25,000 people per year, P.I.P. works to transition people back into the community and transform them into productive pieces of society. People in Progress gives people the resources they need toward self-sufficiency.

Services to Counter Addiction

From medical and dental services to housing and legal services, People in Progress collaborates with a lot of local service providers in order to give comprehensive services to clients. Employment, youth tutoring and art, recovery, immigration, and other services are also included in the program.

Their drug and alcohol treatment services give services to the population that needs it the most: the homeless population of Los Angeles. They suffer from alcohol and drug dependency as well as mental and physical disabilities. The homeless population struggles with drugs and alcohol proportionately more than any other demographic.

Give Back to People in Progress

Help be a part of the addiction-free lives by donating to People in Progress. To get an idea, a $196.25 donation will give toiletries and clothing to 105 residential and 52 transitional clients. Donate today to People in Progress.

If you would like to contact People in Progress visit 701 South Mariposa, Suite 105, Los Angeles, CA 90005. You can call them at 213.384.6689 or email them at admin@peopleinprogress.org.

CLARE Foundation: Secure and Sober

In order to respond to the lack of services for the alcoholics on the beaches of Santa Monica and Venice, CLARE started in the 1960s providing food and literature to this population in need. Throughout the 1970s, CLARE developed into a larger group and began renting a storefront and sleeping areas along Pico Blvd. to provide education and a place for these alcoholics to go through detox.

Now CLARE has 11 residential programs that include outpatient and community-based programs for a diverse population. CLARE helps the homeless, the criminally prosecuted (for drugs and alcohol), and adults in general. The clean, sober environment is a great place for people to get back on their feet after struggling with addiction.

Statistics on Addiction

You or someone close to you may be battling an addiction.

• 1 in 8 Americans has a significant problem with drugs or alcohol.
• 40% of people battling addictions are also battling a mental disorder.
• 27 million Americans either use hard drugs regularly, or are heavy drinkers with 16 million of them needing treatment.
• 12% of young Americans are drug users by age 18.
• An untreated alcoholic’s medical costs are 300% higher than a non-alcoholic’s.
• 70% of illegal drug users are employed and contribute to workplace absenteeism, accidents, and on-the-job violence.
• The cost of the impact of substance abuse on society is $250 billion.

Places like CLARE are there to offer affordable help to people who are struggling with addiction.

Giving Back to CLARE to Beat Addictions

If you are interested in volunteering at CLARE, there are a handful of tasks that they need help with which include clerical tasks, babysitting for mothers in the recovery program, tutoring at the Recovery Homes, supervising beach walks, and organizing job fairs. To volunteer, contact Tamara Pompey (Communications Coordinator) at 310.314.6200 extension 3146. You can also email Tamara at tpompey@clarefoundation.org.

Donating to CLARE will offer over 2,600 people treatment per year. This includes drug and alcohol education, and assessment and referrals for 25,000 people per year who suffer from addiction. 86% of all donations go directly to the CLARE programs. Donate now to CLARE.

You can contact CLARE at 911 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90405 or call them at 310.314.6200. You can also visit the CLARE Foundation website.