FeaturesUnaccompanied and Pregnant, Challenges of Finding Health ServicesAt 14-years-old, Valentina Fernandez* didn’t expect to be a mother, let alone as the result of a rape. Soon after celebrating her son’s first birthday at their home in Guatemala, the young mother and her son joined the nearly 70,000 unaccompanied minors who made the long journey to the United States in 2014, seeking asylum from the rampant violence and extreme poverty of Central America’s Northern Triangle, which has been likened to a war zone.
Fernandez said she didn’t come to the U.S. willingly, but the circumstances she faced in her country forced her to leave. Fernandez and her son, Jordan, arrived at a detention center in 2014, where they received physical and mental health care, but she didn’t expect the challenges she would face when accessing health care for herself and Jordan once they were released to family members in Los Angeles. And the challenges grew even greater when she became pregnant with her second child. MORE> Minimum Wage Raise Moves Forward, Wage Theft is Kept on Close Watch By Lucy Guanuna March 21, 2016 KCET Months passed and Hilda Lopez and her coworkers still hadn’t received all of their back pay. As a garment worker, Lopez was paid the minimum wage to sew jeans and t-shirts for pricey name brands her company contracted with, but after two months of not receiving any pay and promises of being paid “next week”, Lopez and her coworkers filed a complaint with the California Labor Commissioner's Office. “One day we showed up to work and everything was gone. They had locked the doors and we looked inside and they took the all equipment too. We never got paid,” said Lopez. During the months-long wage-theft investigation, the owner of the company filed for bankruptcy and Lopez and her coworkers lost all chance of receiving their pay. After her experience, Lopez started organizing around wage-theft and workers’ rights, eventually leading her to get involved in the movement to raise the minimum wage. She was one of hundreds of workers that packed into city hall last June, the day the Los Angeles city council voted to raise the minimum wage to $15. Lopez and other advocates saw it as a victory for workers, but one hurdle remained: making sure it would be enforced. MORE> OpinionObama puts politics over principles in his Middle East trip
By Kevin Kiani and Lucy Guanuna March 5th, 2013 Daily Sundial, Opinions Obama will be taking his first trip to the Middle East this month and plans to touch down in Israel as well as the occupied West Bank. Obama, who during his presidential campaign in 2008 pledged to work for Middle East peace, will be focusing on Iran’s nuclear weapons program and the civil war in Syria. But as White House press secretary stated, is not going to make advances on the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks deadlock. The relationship that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama share is rocky to say the least, but this trip should be an opportunity to mend any differences and progress toward peace. The White House is trying to quell any expectations regarding this trip but Obama needs to get off the sidelines and draw up a plan for a two-state solution. MORE> |
NewsPolice ask residents to help solve Echo Park murder
By Lucy Guanuna October 26, 2016 The Eastsider L.A. Police and city officials met with residents at the scene of a recent homicide to ask for help in finding the suspects who shot down a man on his bike. The impromptu community gathering that included Councilman Mitch O’Farrell took place late Friday at the corner of Mohawk and Montana streets where 36-year-old William Perea was fatally shot while riding his bike the night of October 17. No suspects have been identified. LAPD Northeast Division Captain Phillip Smith was present to give residents a description of the homicide in hopes of prompting more community involvement. MORE> Temporary homeless shelter closes in Highland Park but advocates working on opening permanent refuge By Lucy Guanuna April 19, 2016 The Eastsider L.A. Northeast L.A.’s only homeless shelter closed its doors a few weeks ago after serving as a temporary refuge during the winter months. But organizers and supporters are working to open a permanent, year-around shelter and resource center for those that remain on the streets of NELA. Recycled Resources, a nonprofit dedicated to serving the homeless, spearheaded the formation and operation of the Northeast Los Angeles Winter Access Center at All Saints Episcopal Church on Monte Vista Street. With heavy El Niño rains forecasted, the group received $80,000 from the city as well as donations to open the temporary emergency shelter to serve NELA, where an estimated 800 homeless live. MORE > |