Councilman Garcetti's Weekly Newsletter

[The information below was provided by the Office of Councilman Eric Garcetti.]

GARCETTI CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF OPERATION HOPE

L.A. City Councilmember Eric Garcetti joined with local and national business, government, faith, and community leaders who participated in the Opportunity Bus Tour to commemorate 20th anniversary of Operation HOPE, an organization that was established following the civil unrest of 1992 to teach financial literacy and provide greater economic opportunity in underserved communities.

"Rebuilding Los Angeles over the last two decades has been a challenge, but never for one second did I doubt that Angelenos were up to the task. I want to thank John Hope Bryant and all of the staff at Operation HOPE for the work they continue doing to not only bring L.A. back, but to make our city better than ever before," said Garcetti, who worked with Operation HOPE to establish the Mortgage HOPE Crisis Hotline which has provided free financial counseling to more than 40,000 clients facing foreclosure and is now a national program.

Garcetti also announced that his office is contributing $15,000 to Operation HOPE’s Business-in-a- Box program to help prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs. Through this program, young people in the community will be given training and capital to start their own small business.

"Young people who participate in the Business-in-a-Box program will not only increase their financial literacy, they'll learn how to transform their hope for the future into action that will help them achieve their dreams," said Garcetti.

GARCETTI CONGRATULATES BERNSTEIN HIGH SCHOOL ROBOTICS TEAM

Councilmember Eric Garcetti congratulated Helen Bernstein High School's award-winning FRC Robotics Team 4046 for winning the Los Angeles FRC Regional Coopertition Award. The team's robot competed in a basketball game against other robots and had to work to help its allies. Team 4046 beat more than 60 others to take home the Coopertition Award, which is awarded to the team that best demonstrates the ability to help their opponents compete.

"Congratulations to the entire Bernstein team! It's great that these students rose to the challenge of learning robotics. It looked like they had a lot of fun, too," said Garcetti.

Garcetti also commended the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council for generously sponsoring the Bernstein team.

GARCETTI TO EMCEE HUMAN DIGNITY AWARDS DINNER 

Councilmember Eric Garcetti will serve as master of ceremonies for the Human Dignity Awards Dinner, to be held Thursday, May 31 at the Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. The event is the annual fundraising gala of the Program for Torture Victims (PTV), an L.A.-based nonprofit that has won national and international acclaim for its work to rebuild the lives of torture victims.

For more than 30 years, PTV has helped rebuild the lives of torture survivors from across the world. The first organization of its kind in the country, PTV provides comprehensive services at no cost to survivors, including medical treatment, psychological counseling, legal assistance and help finding jobs and housing. Los Angeles has had the nation’s largest number of refugees, asylum seekers and torture survivors for the past decade. PTV is the city’s only organization offering a full range of services to torture victims.

This year's gala will honor humanitarian and business leader Carlos Siderman, torture survivor Dianna Ortiz and California Labor Commissioner Julie Su. For more information, please visit www.ptvla.org/dinner.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Tonight, April 26, Councilmember Garcetti's office will host a community briefing on the former LAPD Rampart Station. The meeting will include representatives from LAPD, Bureau of Engineering, the City Administrative Officer's office, and more. This will be a good opportunity to get your questions answered and voice your opinion on the proposed project. The meeting will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at The Children's Institute (2117 W. Temple St) in Historic Filipinotown. For more information or to RSVP, please call our district office at 323-957-4500.

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