VENICE COMMUNITY HOUSING CORPORATION - ASSISTANT PROJECT MANAGER

My name is Victor Tran and I am currently a Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, with a concentration in Community Economic Development and Housing. I gained an interest in pursuing a professional career in urban planning and development to address inequality and study cities and communities as sites of grassroots activism for social change and housing justice. My education has allowed me to explore mechanisms that address housing insecurity and ensure that neighborhood investments can improve the lives of low-income and marginalized groups directly. At UCLA, community-engaged learning allowed me to go beyond just listening and working with a community. It also taught me how to utilize an asset-based community development framework and build upon existing strengths, assets, and relationships within the community to address barriers to participation and equity in planning processes.

Through urban planning, community development, and affordable housing, I hope to bring attention to diverse narratives and experiences in my career and participate in impactful, targeted, and culturally sensitive solutions that build upon a community’s identity, strengths, and assets to organize against structural and systemic barriers. As a researcher at the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, I also have been able to critically examine disparities and differences between neighborhoods and am interested in the ways we can use research and data to mobilize community-based organizations and inform change. By making data and research more accessible to policymakers and community stakeholders, we can make it easier for marginalized and diverse voices to stay informed and participate in conversations and debates about critical issues. As a Southeast Asian American, I am also interested in working to increase the visibility and engagement of AAPIs in urban planning, housing, and community development.

BRILLIANT CORNERS - SUPPORTIVE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT

My name is Erin Alanna Matthews. I was born in Laurel, Maryland, and moved to Raleigh, North Carolina at a young age. My family currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, however, I relocated to Irvine, California to pursue my master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning. My passion for community development came from my class experience as an undergraduate student at Hampton University. While attending school there, I took many art classes, such as drawing, painting, advance sculpturing etc. From my drawing class I met several architect students. I was fascinated by their work and knew that from my artsy background I wanted to pursue a career within a profession that helped communities through development. I also experienced hands-on work with my father and became more passionate about community development, while learning how to test energy efficient homes.

EAST LA COMMUNITY CORPORATION - ASSISTANT ASSET MANAGER

Hello! I am Cass (they/them) and I work with the East LA Community Corporation as an assistant asset manager. I am a graduate from University of California, Santa Cruz in Environmental Studies and I am entering my first year as an Urban and Regional Planning graduate student at University of California, Los Angeles in the fall. My research and interests lie in the built and systemic environment’s impact on the lived experiences of marginalized communities, especially in regards to food apartheids and spatial accessibility. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and have experience organizing and writing about environmental racism here. My undergraduate thesis and other published writings are in climate injustice and I plan to continue studying the materialized systematic oppressions and how their spatiality affects oppressed racial communities. 

CLIFFORD BEERS HOUSING - ASSOCIATE PROJECT MANAGER

Hello everyone, my name is Yulisa Chavez. I recently graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with my Master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning. Prior to that, I received my Bachelor's degree in Environmental and Occupational Health from Cal State Northridge. I was born and raised in the heart of Los Angeles, with deep roots in my community. As a first-generation Chicana, I've witnessed first-hand the disparities in access to resources, including healthy food, health care, education, green space, and housing, all of which I believe are integral to our communities. Throughout my life I have worked with several organizations, doing everything from beautifying my community to promoting access to these important resources. I want to utilize my skills to create happy and healthy communities, where everyone can thrive equitably regardless of their background. I look forward to expanding my knowledge of the housing and community development fields through my experience in the 2022 LISC LA AmeriCorps Cohort.

LOS ANGELES ROOM AND BOARD - DIRECTOR OF RESIDENTIAL EDUCATION  AND STUDENT SERVICES

My name is Jarod Lopez, and I was born in Tacoma Washington. I am a part of an organization called Los Angeles Room and Board. LARNB is a non-profit organization committed to ending student hunger and homelessness. Being a part of LARNB has afforded me the opportunity to develop and take the lead in valuable projects that ensures students have all the resources needed to be successful. My passion for volunteering stems from the impact volunteerism had on my life as a child. I am honored to be a part of an organization like LISC AmeriCorps that is going to allow me to use my passion, experience, and skills to help revitalize my community.

DECRO CORP - SUMMER ASSET MANAGEMENT ASSISTANT

Hello, I am a first-gen, Latina, Master’s student at UCLA. I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, California. I received my Bachelor's degree at UCSB with a major in Sociology and a minor in Labor Studies, with a certification in Health and Wellness. I am pursuing my Master’s in Public Policy with a special interest in housing policy. My interest to pursue my degree in housing policy started from my previous work experience where I was helping people with mental health challenges who were also experiencing homelessness to obtain permanent housing. I have seen how affordable housing has advanced people's health & lives overall and want to continue to uplift my community. I believe housing is a human right and am eager to learn how to advance our impact through housing development. I am so grateful for this opportunity to learn hands-on with Decro Corp. I am looking forward to meeting others who are also interested in uplifting our community through the work we do.

AMERICAN FAMILY HOUSING - ASSISTANT PROJECT MANAGER

Growing up on the Southside of Chicago, now known as Chiraq, offered little to no housing options for minorities. My family's rundown apartment housed three generations at any given time. The overcrowded nights I experienced as a child during the '80s still exist in many households today. Chicago is one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas, yet it has the most significant gap in racial housing. This void is due to a lack of economic resources, structural inequalities, and complex social issues affecting communities of color. These are the factors that drive me to pursue a career in urban and regional planning.

Access to proper shelter is a severe crisis in California. On any given night, 150,000 of our residents lack a safe place to call home. During Fall 2019, I had the opportunity to work alongside Professor Mathew Higgins for seven months on a housing project which would address San Diego County's homeless population. Our research focused on self-sufficiency, environmental sustainability, and community engagement. I began to view San Diego with new eyes and committed myself to the struggles of the city. My research involved collecting data from the community, both housed and homeless. It was vital for me to hear how complex social issues affected San Diegans day to day living. Through this study, Professor Higgins and I interviewed 1017 individuals and families of a broad economic and social status. Interviewees consistently agreed that Californians' cost of living did not align with its economy. The burden of high-cost housing in the Golden State calls for policies designed to increase home supply and help families meet basic needs. I seek to counter-argue policies designed against minorities and those below the poverty line.

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES - WATTS RISING HOUSING ACCESS & ANTI-DISPLACEMENT FELLOW

Hello my name is Giselle Jazmin Melendez Cruz and I am a current UCLA graduate with a major in Chicanx and Central American Studies and a double minor in Biomedical Research and Global Health. As a Los Angeles native raised in the outskirts of Watts, my passion for public health always centered around addressing and finding tangible solutions to the health disparities present in disadvantaged communities located in SPA 6. 

The field of Chicana and Chicano studies helped me expose the inequalities of Chicanas/os/xs, Latinas/os/xs, and Indigenous migrants from Latin America to utilize these injustices and cultural capital to inform policy and inspire transformative change. Watts is considered home for many families who identify as Chicanas/os/xs, Latinas/os/xs, and Indigenous migrants, which is a community I have a passion to work with as a Spanish speaker from a mixed status household. While both my primary major and past employment have aided in my interpersonal skills, my participation in the Paul Lab and the Biomedical Research minor have contributed to both my technical and data collecting skills. Being able to perform data analysis while honing my writing skills through the current research manuscript I am a co-author for, provides me with the ability to extend these skills to this current project that demands both coordination and organizational competence. Lastly, coming from such an underserved community I feel a heightened responsibility to give back by using my voice to represent my community in academic spaces. Through my experiences as a woman of color in academia, I hope to serve as a model for advocacy in helping find tangible solutions to nuanced health policy issues to eventually achieve health equity. Not only am I very excited to extend my support and work alongside many amazing individuals in Watts Rising, but also learning how best to support my community through community engagement and workshops.

HOUSINGE AUTHORITY OF CITY OF LOS ANGELES - WATTS RISING HOUSING ACCESS & ANTI-DISPLACEMENT COORDINATOR

Born and raised in Watts, California, Cartashia Perkins is an author, educator, entrepreneur, screenwriter, long-time activist, and resident of the Jordan Downs Housing Projects. She has been actively involved in her community since her teen years through an non-profit organization Common Grounds. Cartashia became teen president of the organization after they quickly noticed her strong leadership abilities. She helped to coordinate the summer youth employment program available at Common Grounds along with planning and executing community engagement events. Strengthening her community involvement, Cartashia grew to become a strong, respected community leader and activist. Currently she works as the Housing Access and Anti-Displacement Coordinator at Watts Rising Collaborative.

AMERICAN FAMILY HOUSING - COMMUNITY BENEFIT & BRAND AMBASSADOR

Hello, my name is Alyssa Martinez and I am from Whittier, CA, a suburb southeast of Los Angeles. Since high school, I have had a passion for public service and building up my community through volunteering at multiple organizations in my city. This past May, I graduated with my Bachelors degree in Public Policy from the USC Price School of Public Policy and will be receiving my Masters in Public Administration next spring.

My experiences volunteering and my coursework at USC have helped me recognize my interest in working with non-profit organizations and the public sector. My goal is to help people engage with their community and connect people to valuable resources to create a more sustainable society. Connecting my peers to different alumni and career resources as the Professional Development chair of the Price Latinx Student Association has also given me valuable experience with the initiative it takes to plan events and build relationships with students and alumni. I hope to use my Americorps opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills to my work with my host site. I’m confident that I will grow professionally, and get further in reaching my goals through this experience.

LINC HOUSING -  COMMUNITY OUTREACH ASSISTANT

My name is Esequiel Ramirez, I’m a Community Engagement Assistant for both Linc Housing and City Fabrick. In my role I’m developing a Community Outreach plan for two ongoing affordable housing projects that will help educate current residents in those communities about affordable housing and its benefits while also including residents into the process of developing these sites. Some of my past experience in this field include, the Drake Chavez Greenbelt Project outreach, Zone In: CIty Core, and LADOT outreach project. I also have graduated from Cal State Long Beach with my Bachelors in Geography and a Minor in Environmental Science and Policy. My passion for being in the community development field comes from being able to give people, generally young people, exposure to ideas, content and forms of knowledge they may otherwise miss, which hopefully helps them to better understand the options and opportunities available to them.

LITTLE TOKYO SERVICE CENTER - YOUTH SERVICES ASSISTANT

My name is Jacqueline Hernandez and I work as a Youth Services Assistant in Resident Services at Little Tokyo Service Center. I work in supporting youth and Resident Services Programs such as the Mi Casa After School Program, the upcoming Summer Program, and Champs, a mentorship program.

I have lived in the Little Tokyo Community for 20 years and never realized that there are so many people who work hard to preserve the communities culture and how much help is provided to the residents who live there. I also never imagined that I would be a part of the amazing staff that work there. I have been helped so much by LTSC from just being a resident, that when I saw the opportunity to work there I decided to take it. It has been a great experience learning how to work with the youth, help in different programs, helping with other resident services and learning how to work with my team.