Arleta, CA 2013
Information about the location and community
Summer of Solutions, Local Initiative will be started in Arleta located in the San Fernando Valley (SFV). SFV “is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California. It lies north of the larger and more populous Los Angeles Basin.” Both Ana and I live in the Arleta area and we see potential for a Summer of Solutions program and Local Initiative to be successful here. Our neighbors are community oriented. There is a recreation center that is very busy hosting music and exercise classes year round. We believe that having an organized program that incorporates sustainability and looks at solutions through an environmental lens will benefit the livelihood of Arleta. By cultivating community values we can help ensure generations to come have guidance in living in a self-sustaining way. We feel like this is a good way to redirect the community to a positive path that does not put emphasis on fast food, liquor stores, violence and drugs.
Jacqueline is a full time student and plans to pursue a degree in environmental science.
Information about your vision, project work, and potential partners
We plan to work with local elementary, middle, and high schools to expand education by running outdoor living classrooms located in school gardens. Our intention is to create curriculum that will exceed the districts standards and show students that there are many different ways to learn other than in a conventional indoor classroom setting. A major part of our motivation for running such a program is to serve as an example to youth that those who want to make a move toward a stronger more tight knit community can do so if one has the drive. Another plan we have in store is to try working with or creating a community garden in Arleta.
Information about your program leader team
Jacqueline: I’m a full time student at a local community college in the San Fernando Valley. In the near future I plan on receiving a degree for studying environmental science. After participating in a Summer of Solutions in East Los Angeles, I decided to embark on the journey of beginning a program near my home. When I’m not in school I like to get involved in community organizations to learn about different ways to improve the neighborhood that I’m a part of. I’m so excited to be a part of the Grand Aspirations network for this upcoming year. I’m very happy to get the chance to work in Arleta, CA.
Ana setting up the garden. “I feel that being active in this way will only lead us towards creating the peace we need in our own communities for the greater good,” she said of SoS work.
Ana: I am excited to finally get my hands on something that involves coming together with my community through something that will nourish the body and the overall well being. I am wishing that our project and philosophy runs long term in the city where I have grown half of my life. I am currently working on small gardening projects and I am active member of my community. A tipping point that has further motivated me to continue a chapter in the works of nourishing my community through gardening and food has been a collective food program in MacArthur Park. Every Sunday for the past five years, a network of volunteers, organizers, and the immediate community gather to receive food donations. It is then distributed to over 200 people, each box that they take home contain fruits and veggies, sometimes a loaf of bread and rice and beans. The team has worked harmoniously to fight adversity and the injustices that have left a scar in this particular community after the police injured dozens in 2007 during an immigration demonstration. I feel that we serve as street soldiers to our own community the more we are out in the public eye by recreating accountability against oppressors that only seem to harm our community more and more. I feel that being active in this way will only lead us towards creating the peace we need in our own communities for the greater good.
Donate, This is how you can help us create our own chapter in the city of Arleta.
Contact one of us to let us know how you are planning to help or if you would like us to continue reaching out to notify you of any upcoming events. We are sincerely grateful for your contribution.