Multilingual organization El Centro de Amistad recently held the grand opening of a FamilySource Center in Panorama City to be a “one-stop spot” for educational, social and family support services for low- and moderate-income families with children up to the age of 17.
The city of Los Angeles’ Community Investment for Families Department awarded El Centro de Amistad a $1.5 million grant to open the center, located in the office building on 14500 Roscoe Blvd. The new office makes it the organization’s fourth location in the San Fernando Valley and 19th established center in the city of LA.
FamilySource Centers are managed by different organizations or nonprofits, including New Economics for Women, Latino Resource Organization and El Nido Family Centers. The centers provide services including financial education and coaching; income tax preparation; college corner mentoring/tutoring; pre-employment and employment support; and mental health referrals.
Luis Cervantes, the executive director of El Centro de Amistad, said they chose to open in that location due to the high amount of foot traffic the intersection sees daily and because it was important to bring the organization’s bilingual services to the community.
“Where some organizations have a difficult time bringing in [bilingual] people, particularly in therapy, we have a great relationship with the universities that are able to work with us to bring in therapists who are bilingual,” Cervantes said. “Bringing these services to Panorama City was vital because of the comfort level of being able to get services in your language.”
The FamilySource Center held its grand opening on Friday, Aug. 16, with several elected officials, including LA City Councilmember Imelda Padilla, Congressman Tony Cárdenas and Assemblymember Luz Rivas.
However, the center was already operating earlier in the year in a temporary office in the same building while the official office was getting set up. One of the clients the center has helped is a woman named Lagunas, who did not provide her first name, after her daughter had lost her job at a 99 Cents Only Store.
“I was desperately seeking financial assistance. When I was informed that they could cover my utility bills, I felt an immense sense of relief,” Lagunas said. “But the support didn’t stop there. They also provided me with groceries every week. Every time I walk into the center, I’m welcomed like a family [member].”
Abigail Marquez, general manager of the Community Investment for Families Department, said the Panorama City office was one of two additional centers in the San Fernando Valley, the other being in the North Hollywood/Sun Valley area.
Last year, Marquez added, FamilySource Centers served 52,000 low-income individuals. She said the mission is to leverage federal and state resources across different agencies to create pathways to greater financial empowerment for Angelenos.
“We’re very excited about this area because we know that there is a great need here in Panorama City,” Marquez said. “What I am especially excited about here with El Centro de Amistad is not just the relationship that they’ve had with this community for so many years, but the mental health programming that they are also bringing into this area.”
This wasn’t the first time El Centro de Amistad has worked with LA officials to expand its reach. In the past, Cervantes had reached out to Rivas directly for funding to hire more clinicians and expand their infrastructure. His effort bore fruit in August 2023, when the organization received $1 million to expand its facility in the City of San Fernando and to bring on more staff.
“We’re not looking specifically to market or brand ourselves. We just want to do the work,” Cervantes explained. “One of the things we’ve been very intentional on for the past [few] years is that part of it, making sure people know that we have been here a very long time and we’re doing very good work.”
He continued, “It was very important for us to make sure there’s a partnership with ourselves, the communities that we’re in and the representatives that are present.”
While the Panorama City grand opening was just last week, Cervantes said their Board of Directors have an interest in expanding towards southern parts of the valley, such as Sun Valley or North Hollywood, and are currently looking for funding opportunities to help them do so.
“We still feel that there’s a huge need for mental health [services], particularly in Spanish,” Cervantes said. “So we’re continuing to grow on that … [and] we intend for that in the next year.”
For more information on El Centro de Amistad’s services and its San Fernando Valley locations, go to https://ecda.org/.