With the help of volunteers and some businesses, Councilman Gil Cedillo comes out ahead in one of the poorest areas of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Councilman Gil Cedillo has not allowed the pandemic to tear down the work that has been done in his district1, where most of its residents are low-income.
As soon as the order to stay home was issued in mid-March, Cedillo said he obtained more than $ 500,000 in discretionary money from his district to help as many people as possible.
With this, a project was born where Cedillo partnered with non-profit organizations such as CHIRLA, Carece-LA and CCMP, some 30 local restaurants and the community.
“So every dollar is spent three times. First it goes to the community group, then the community group goes to the restaurants, and then the restaurants get food for the people of the community, ”explained Cedillo.
Cedillo said around 200,000 meals have been delivered so far.
“There are 130,000 hot meals for the elderly. But then we have another 50,000 to 70,000 meals for families in need and apart from our groceries in general, "said Cedillo. "In this way we increase jobs, raise money for restaurants, in addition to nonprofits, and feed the community."
For the poorer communities, Cedillo said he partnered with the nonprofit Shower of Hope, which offers the homeless community access to a shower seven days a week.
"It is a mobile shower where there are showers, laundry and bathrooms, obviously," said Cedillo. "They go out into the community and then homeless people can go there to take a bath and cool off."
The councilman said this job is a great help to homeless people who have such basic problems as doing laundry and grooming. Additionally, they offer food to the homeless who come to bathe.
As for housing, Cedillo said he was one of the leaders who made the efforts for the rent moratorium.
"This means no rent increase, if you can't pay the rent, just let the landlord know and tell them, and we will work with you to get a year to pay," said Cedillo.
However, he assured that even when the tenants do not pay the rent, the owners have to pay their mortgage.
"So we worked on a program and we got $ 100 million from the city and that will be available to tenants," said the official. "Because they have to pay their rent, so the landlord can pay the mortgage."
In your district, one of the great challenges is finding a job again. Street vendors are part of this vital group of workers who will have to adapt to a new normal.
Cedillo said his office is already working with 65 street vendors; they were the leaders of the movement asking for help to allow them to sell. But there are also the newest sellers whom they hope to help, too.
"They are people who want to obtain licenses to sell, but say they cannot pay the fee (for the license)," said Cedillo. "So we will give them the opportunity to help them train, that they have the requirements and instead of having to pay money, they will have to go to training."
The new normality of living with the COVID-19 prowling the streets can even be dangerous with people who don't take proper care of themselves. Training will teach you all of this and the importance of wearing a mask and gloves.
Tessential workers
Cedillo said special attention should also be paid to all essential workers who are not professionals or experts. He refers to them as janitors, vegetable packers, and supermarket workers.
Additionally, the councilor said that when he saw businesses catch fire on Melrose Avenue during the riots, many people told him not to worry because it was just "property."
“And I say that it is not just property, there is a Latino family that goes at night after they close to clean. He is the husband, the wife, and two of their children; they clean and then they go to the next store and they also clean and that's how they paid their bills, ”said Cedillo. "Those retail jobs, those fashion and apparel industry jobs are the jobs that support our families."
Not a corrupt police
Cedillo said that lately he has seen the pain of the people for the death of the African American George Floyd and at the same time the eagerness to want to remove the Los Angeles police department. However, Cedillo asked that they do not mix the good with the bad.
Otherwise, the councilor assured that Los Angeles could become like some countries where the police can be easily corrupted.
"And because they are not paid well, they become vulnerable to corruption and drug traffickers," said Cedillo. "Then the rich, as seen in Mexico, in Latin America, have all the guards they need."
He said that if that were to happen here there would be no professional police and businesses would be forced to have their own police force, which will not be concerned with what happens outside their territory.
"Then, we will be like other countries in America, Asia, the Middle East, where there is a lot of militarized private security," said the official.
Cedillo added that he better proposes to invest more money in the education and entertainment of the most vulnerable youth. This can be done by expanding programs like Summer Night Lights, Winter Night Lights, and internet access in all low-income households.
"I would take that money (which is taken from the police) and I know very well where to invest it," said the councilman.
