On Saturday, February 16 Time Warner Cable unveiled the newly built technology center at Community Coalition at 8101 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90044. California State Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass, California State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, Los Angeles Councilmember Bernard Parks (8th District), Los Angeles Councilmember Jan Perry (9th District) and others were in attendance.

For too long, South Los Angeles residents have lacked the conditions needed for a healthy, thriving community—safe neighborhoods, access to quality health care and food, education, living wage jobs and 21st century technology. But for almost two decades, thousands of Community Coalition members have led the fight to change these conditions. Residents have shut down hundreds of liquor stores that endanger our neighborhoods, converted nuisance businesses into positive land uses and held public officials accountable. On February 16, Community Coalition will celebrate the power of everyday residents to make change by releasing two new tools to fight deliberate indifference and transform our community.

Only 40 percent of African American and Latino households are connected to the Internet. With access to the Time Warner Cable technology center, youth are offered access to a new computer lab with high-speed online connections, a multi-media room to include video production capabilities with digital camcorders, a green screen, digital and high-definition televisions, furnishings and more. It has been designed to enable youth to use technology to document their experiences.

“Our goal is to promote an educated, informed and connected community,” said Time Warner Cable’s Metropolitan Los Angeles Division President Jeffrey A. Hirsch. “Time Warner Cable is bringing technology to the communities that need it most by partnering with vital community-based organizations that have already demonstrated a commitment to their communities. It is our hope that the center will truly make a difference in the lives of children and families where access to technology has been limited.”

The Community Coalition is the second Time Warner Cable technology center to be launched, following the launch at the Hollenbeck Youth Center in December 2007. Six more locations are scheduled to be launched across Los Angeles by end of year.

Immediately following the ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:30 AM, Community Coalition launched its latest community resource guide to fight nuisance sites and prevent crime in South Los Angeles. “Clean Up or Close Down That Nuisance Business” is a handbook designed to educate the community on the nuisance abatement process and allow residents to take a proactive approach on crime. The handbook is based on Community Coalition’s experience with working on nuisance abatement cases in South Los Angeles for over 15 years and was prepared by members of the Coalition as a service to area residents and stakeholders.

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