#hacla

Tried to call HACLA today but couldn't get through 🥲

Reckless spending by The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA), recently exposed in an audit by Wendy Greuel and the Controller’s Office, is unacceptable. LA County is the homeless capital of the United States, with nearly a quarter of a million people experiencing homelessness each year, and the majority residing within the City’s limits.

THE HACLA (Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles) on their webpage (http://www.hacla.org/) proudly announce the opening of several 'Community Gardens' for public housing sites; Ramona Gardens, and Rancho San Pedro to name a few. , In Mar Vista Gardens, however, residents have a different experience with HACLA and gardening

On their homepage, the HACLA, has pictures capturing red ribbon ceremonies as they commemorate the opening of community gardens. Talking-head/Politician amidst community members crowd around the camera and ribbon to witness and be part of the official opening ceremony.

These gardens will grow trees that will bare fruits, it will grow vegetables and others herbs, plants that residents can and will use regularly. We imagine that this kind of situation can inspire community residents to feel good about themselves and the public housing community in which they reside, and maybe even get residents to thinking that HACLA is nice, just maybe. There is nothing wrong with that. That's a good PR (Public Relations) image for HACLA.

Furthermore on their page they state, "HACLA provides programs that benefit residents and improve their quality of life. Residents have opportunities to obtain job training, educational programs, and many other programs to help them get to a place of self-sufficiency."  Who doesn't want to improve their quality of life, or feel and be self sufficient? That's not even an appropriate question to ask. sorry for asking...Here is the real issues.

In Mar Vista Gardens, a son used sophisticated organic gardening skills that he learn at Mar Vista Gardens' Central High School gardening workshops that he participated in, and made a small garden for his mother. He used a small plot of soil directly outside the door of his housing unit to grow potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes to help feed his family. A few months later, the harvest yielded was more then the family could chew on.  The Housing Authority served the residents with a HACLA  required rules to abide by.

The following text is the caption that followed the picture, as it was posted on facebook by the young man,

"Top: So this is what I cultivated from the garden I set up for my mom in the projects today :DD Bottom: This is what she received yesterday from housing authorities.... :((((( they said there going to cut everything out by next week..... BASTARDS!!!! >:("

The wrong message is being sent to this family, and families in the Mar Vista Gardens community. Given HACLA's actions on this situation, it makes us at Street Inc question their beliefs, does HACLA really want their public housing residents to improve the quality of their life, does HACLA really want residents to become self-sufficient ? The issues seem bigger than pushing a hoe around.

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles is contradicting itself, for not allowing the improvement of the quality of life and self-sufficiency of this family. Shame on HACLA for not seeing the efforts of this young man and his family as the seeds to a community garden that wants to flourish in the public housing site of Mar Vista Gardens.