Community Perspective

As the Founder and Executive Director of Pacoima Beautiful, an environmental health organization located in the northeast San Fernando Valley in the City of Los Angeles, I have been very proud to watch our organization grow from a volunteer beautification committee in 1995-1996 into a community based, non profit environmental health organization.

For the past three years, Pacoima Beautiful has been the recipient of invaluable support from the Environmental Protection Agency. As a grantee of EPA, Pacoima Beautiful has been able to work with many generous staff members who willingly share their expertise on a wide range of subjects including: lead and children's health; toxic risks in the community; the dangers of pesticides in homes and much more. We have been provided with national networking opportunities such as the participation in the APHA conference and participation in panels such as “New Support for Community-Based Environmental Health Initiatives through Improved Collaboration among Federal Agencies, States, and Health Organizations.” Through opportunities such as this we have learned about the work of other organizations and have developed relationships that enhance our work. Involvement with EPA as a partner has given Pacoima Beautiful credibility. We have leveraged the relationship with EPA to take advantage of resources that might otherwise not been available to us. Conversely we believe that our input is valuable to EPA. We are “on the ground” and can share what we know about environmental health issues. Without our presence in the community EPA who would not otherwise have such access.