NCJ Number
170144
Journal
Reaching Today's Youth Volume: 1 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1997) Pages: 30-34
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Three stories of how a West Los Angeles community worked to create a climate of safety and respect in the midst of poverty and gang warfare illustrate the eight principles at the core of the Mar Vista Family Center's success.
Abstract
The Mar Vista Family Center (MVFC) is a community-based nonprofit organization founded in 1977 to provide families with the tools to make positive changes in their lives. Over the past 20 years, with the leadership of the Center, the Mar Vista community has transformed itself from one plagued with the highest crime rate in West Los Angeles to a community with outstanding family participation and increasing safety; however, the prevalence of single-parent households, two-parent immigrant households, and risk factors such as high unemployment, violence, multi-generational gang activity, and short-term residency create an environment that puts children at risk for failure. Of the clients served by the Center, 20 percent are affiliated with gangs, and 90 percent live in poverty. The Center bases its work on the application of eight Mar Vista Model principles to help families empower themselves, to mentor youth, and to support the families and the youth in transforming their community. The principles are vision-building, tapping local talent, excellence, empowering communication, ownership of responsibility, leadership and mentoring, "learnership," and integrity. After explaining these principles, this article presents three stories of personal histories that show the influence of the MVFC in the community.