Just in case you're put in the position of relying on the Los Angeles Witness-Victim's Assistance Program for help, you should know that besides sending you a brochure (if you ask for it) and a reimbursement for up to $2,000 for rent (per family), there isn't much help this city office can offer. A lighthouse it isn't! I'm thinking it's more like a big dinghy with a light on it.
But I'm going to be optimistic; light is good. It gives you a tiny ray of hope and you begin to search out every break in darkness you can find over the horizon.
We don't know where my son is. He's angry, hurt, confused and doesn't understand "reimbursement" or why Mommy can't resettle him in say, Miami, or San Francisco--someplace cosmopolitan, where jobs (and recreation) are plentiful. I was thinking more like Bakersfield, Omaha or Iowa City. After all this is a re-location, not a vacation.
It's time like these that you need a strong support system. Besides my great friends, prayer partners and neighbors, I feel blessed to be working with Mario Portillo, of Aztecs Rising--who is trying to talk sense into my son--and L.A.P.D. Gang Unit Det. Rick Ortiz, who is safeguarding our home. Today I know now that I did the right thing to report the crime, in spite of everything that's happened since.
While the City doesn't have much of a lighthouse, I'm thinking we should build one for ourselves. Not for the City's sake, but for our own. We need a network of safe houses, employers who'll take a chance, adult mentors for troubled and confused young people.
In future blogs and on our website, 2 Late 4 Time Out, I'd like to share every resource I can find regarding gang intervention and help for families. And if you've got some ideas, please don't keep 'em to yourself. No one should have a monopoly on light.
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