[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15368]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    CELEBRATING THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WEST ANGELES COMMUNITY 
                        DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JULIAN C. DIXON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 30, 1999

  Mr. DIXON. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to commemorate the fifth 
anniversary of the West Angeles Community Development Corporation 
(CDC). This thriving community development organization was founded in 
1994 as an outreach program of the West Angeles Church of God in 
Christ, a 15,000 member congregation in the Crenshaw area, located in 
my Congressional District. The West Angeles CDC is dedicated to 
economic empowerment, social justice, and community transformation for 
its surrounding South Los Angeles area.
  The West Angeles CDC has achieved success in developing a school-
based training program in peer mediation named PeaceMakers, launching a 
job placement assistance program, providing renters' assistance and 
case management services to families displaced from housing, and 
providing emergency food assistance to those in need. In addition, the 
CDC recently built the West A Homes, a 44-unit apartment complex for 
large low-income families.
  In recognizing the significant outreach ministry of the West Angeles 
CDC, I must highlight the outstanding leadership of the organization's 
distinguished Board of Directors: Bishop Charles E. Blake, Pastor of 
the West Angeles Church; Lula Ballton, Esq., Executive Director of the 
CDC; Dr. Desiree Tillman-Jones, Chairperson of the Board; Mrs. Belinda 
Ann Bakkar; Mrs. Jueline Bleavins; Mr. Mack Bruins; Ms. Stasia Cato; 
Mrs. Nancy Harris; Mr. Harold T. Hutchison; Mrs. Janet Johnson-Welch; 
Ms. Nathalie Page; Ms. Sandra McBeth-Reynolds; Rev. Donald T. Paredes; 
Mr. Maurice Perry; Mr. Mark J. Robertson; Mr. Roy Sadakane; Mr. Paul H. 
Turner; and attorneys Patricia S. Cannon, Anne C. Myles-Smith, and 
Wyndell J. Wright. These dedicated individuals have selflessly 
fulfilled the vision of the West Angeles CDC by bringing compassion, 
hope, and healing to the Crenshaw community they serve.
  The West Angeles CDC's contributions to the South Los Angeles 
community have been invaluable. I congratulate them on their 
outstanding work and offer my best wishes for their continued success. 
With construction underway of a beautiful new West Angeles Cathedral, I 
am confident the West Angeles Church of God in Christ and the West 
Angeles Community Development Corporation can look forward to a long 
and prosperous future.

                          ____________________