[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 14, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO EL CENTRO DE AMISTAD

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 14, 1997

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to pay tribute to El Centro de 
Amistad, which this year is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Now led 
by Angel Perez, El Centro has established an impressive record of 
providing help to at-risk youth and their families in the San Fernando 
Valley. Anyone who wants to see young people off drugs and away from 
gangs is grateful to El Centro for its efforts.
  Founded in 1977, the original advisory board worked directly with the 
agency responsible for its development, the San Fernando Community 
Mental Health Centers, Inc. Seven years later the advisory board 
assumed the role of governing board, and El Centro de Amistad was born. 
A bilingual/bicultural nonprofit organization, El Centro offers health, 
mental health, education, and community action services. Many of its 
clients are poor Latinos, and many of these are recent immigrants.
  El Centro focuses on reducing risk factors that can lead to violence, 
school failure, gang affiliation, and child abuse. The organization 
offers youth counseling, afterschool tutoring, and summer activities/
youth job placement as healthy alternatives to destructive behavior. In 
1996 El Centro provided direct services to 13,000 clients and an 
additional 10,000 family members. It's numbers such as these that 
vividly illustrate the importance of El Centro to the entire San 
Fernando Valley.
  In 1989 El Centro opened a satellite center in the city of San 
Fernando to address the needs of an overwhelmingly Latino population. 
Eight years later, the San Fernando Satellite Center is an unqualified 
success. Among its many important duties, the Satellite Center has 
provided psychological counseling to residents in the aftermath of the 
devastating Northridge earthquake.
  I ask my colleagues to join me today in saluting El Centro de 
Amistad, which has made a difference in the lives of so many people. 
Its dedication to making this a better world inspires us all.

                          ____________________