On April 21, the Coalition to Prevent Alcohol-Related Harms in LA Metro (CoPalm) hosted a community forum, \u201cBoyle Heights: Not One More Liquor Store,\u201d at the Resurrection Church in Los Angeles. Over 60 people attended the event to\u00a0discuss substance abuse prevention and control, in an effort to reduce alcohol-related crimes in the L.A. Metro area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can learn a lot from Boyle Heights\u00a0because they have a long\u00a0history addressing alcohol issues in their community,\u201d said Sam Joo, KYCC Director of Children and Family Services. \u201cBoyle Heights shows other communities the importance of engaged residents as community change agents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Multiple community leaders spoke at the event, including Social Model Recovery Systems<\/a> Community Organizer Dina Cruz, Los Angeles City Council District 14 <\/a>Field Deputy Franklin Ochoa and Hollenback Neighborhood Prosecutor<\/a> Cynthia Gonzalez. They addressed the importance of keeping the neighborhood safe, working together to build a family-friendly community and measures that\u00a0residents can take to ensure that neighborhood liquor stores are law abiding.<\/p>\n Residents also gave testimonies and asked everybody to take part in this initiative.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t be afraid and hide behind my walls,\u201d said Terry Marquez, a Boyle Heights resident. \u201cI want to enjoy my community. I know I can\u2019t do it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Other community members also called to end\u00a0the oversaturation of liquor stores in their neighborhood. Nidia Gonzalez shared her concerns about raising her children in a neighborhood where liquor stores are ubiquitous. Resident Roberto Mata suggested allocating funds to create youth programs.<\/p>\n