By Daily Press staff
The Westside Shelter and Hunger Coalition (WSHC) is giving it up for those who didn’t give up, even while living on the streets.
The WSHC hosts its 11th annual “Celebrating Success: Changing Lives and Revitalizing Our Communities” breakfast on Friday, Oct. 6, at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in downtown Santa Monica. Ray Gonzales, executive producer and host of KTLA’s “Pacesetters,” will emcee the ceremony that honors 20 previously homeless individuals who have made extraordinary changes to leave behind life on the streets.
Four honorees will represent the recipients by sharing their stories at the event. “I was on a dead-end street going nowhere, no future, no hope or direction in my life. Now I have a life that gets better every day,” says Henry Romero, one of this year’s honorees. Romero grew up in Central Los Angeles. Within six months of his mother’s death, when Romero was 15, he joined a gang and started a hard life of drug and alcohol abuse, landing in and out of prison for 35 years. In between were stints of homelessness and addiction. In the final 14 months of his last prison term, Romero entered a substance abuse program leading him to Phoenix House for further treatment and assistance with re-entry into society. He sought help finding employment from Chrysalis and now he is part owner/operator of a limo company, driving his own business sedan, paying his own rent, spending time with family and acting as a role model for his nieces and nephews.
The Success Breakfast also pays tribute to a number of individuals, organizations and businesses that have supported the coalition’s member organizations in an exceptional manner. The 12 honorees this year include the Edelstein Family Charitable Foundation, Edward Keasbey, the Emerson Family Foundation, First Federal Bank of California, Housing Options for People to Excel (HOPE), the Junior League of Los Angeles, PricewaterhouseCoopers, RAND Corporation, the Santa Monica Farmers Market, Santa Monica Place, Starbucks and Working Wardrobes. Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky will be honored by the coalition as a whole with the 2006 Partnership Award in recognition of his commitment to homelessness issues.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 2, 2006. Read the original PDF.