Rebuilding A Community
Out of the economic decline of early 1990s, residents in the low-income Pacoima community started rebuilding their San Fernando Valley neighborhoods with a new vision. Partnering with local schools, Los Angeles Educational Partnership, the United Way, Cal State Northridge and UCLA faculty, neighbors have created educational, health, environmental, and job training opportunities aimed at improving their quality of life.

Setting Their Own Agenda
Pacoima Beautiful is an organization that has grown out of the collective vision for change. Neighborhood activists decided to find the solutions for themselves by establishing their own agenda of civic engagement, taking on issues of toxic dumping and pollution prevention through ongoing surveys and block-by-block education, monitoring, and clean-up efforts.

Getting Results
Pacoima Beautiful also helps residents to become Community Inspectors working with Los Angeles city agencies to document and resolve local problems, e.g. graffiti, illegal dumping sites, noise generators, crack houses, and broken or missing street lighting. Through the neighbors' efforts, they are now taking on issues dealing with environmental health and environmental justice. Their efforts have produced greater accountability on the part of government officials.

Contact info:
Liseth Romero-Martinez
11243 Glenoaks Blvd. Suite 3
Pacoima, CA 91331
(818) 899-2454
lmartinez@pacoimabeautiful.org
www.pacoimabeautiful.org

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