On this 25th anniversary of the L.A. Uprising, to commemorate and reflect on the pivotal event, we sat down with SCOPE members, Joaquin Meneses and Carolyn Riley, and asked them to share their personal experience of the Uprising. Joaquin was a recent immigrant from Mexico living in Koreatown in ‘92 and remembers both the community …

One year after the passage of Proposition 47, communities across the state are beginning to see the positive impact the new law will have on thousands of families. In changing certain low-level nonviolent crimes from potential felonies to misdemeanors, Prop 47 has redirected millions of public dollars from prison spending to drug and mental health …

Claudia Botero of Univision profiles Maria. Watch the video here! When Maria immigrated to the US from Honduras in 1979, she knew life here wouldn’t be easy. Maria has lived in South LA for 36 years and has worked at numerous jobs over the years: building airplane parts at a factory in South LA, cleaning planes …

As Maria Dubon and Landry Thomas make their way down the street, they peer inside businesses looking at light fixtures and exit signs. Maria and Landry are SCOPE members and trained Energy Service Representatives (ESR) for the Los Angeles Department of Water who outreach to small businesses and churches in the South LA community to let them …

It’s with a heavy heart to share that long time SCOPE family member Chris Nixon suffered a severe heart attack and passed away. This sudden loss is one we are all still coming to terms with. Chris was a passionate advocate for social justice and leader at SCOPE and in the South LA community. Growing …

Her home is more than 30 years old, so for SCOPE member and South Los Angeles resident Anita Thomas, finding cost effective solutions to maintain her home is a constant struggle. That’s why when she first learned about the free Home Energy Improvement Program from the Department of Water and Power; she didn’t think twice …

Oscar Lopez While having his feet firmly planted in the present, Oscar Lopez also has his sights in the future. A SCOPE member since 2005, Oscar has participated and volunteered in everything from phone banking, door knocking, to attending rallies. It is that very same passion and commitment to his community that have also lead …

“If we’re going to achieve real economic justice in this country, there needs to be a profound shift in our general political consciousness, and we have to start by dismantling certain myths,” says Deepak Pateriya. “People are not poor because they are lazy. And Capitalism is not the natural state of things. There are other …

Celeste Godinez At age 15, Celeste Godinez spent her weekends at the Long Beach Port watching the boats dock and the diesel big-rigs pull away leaving thick trails of exhaust behind them. Located in the Los Angeles Basin, the large shipping yard yields some of the worst pollution in the nation, with thousands of area residents facing serious …

Maria Rutledge Maria Rutledge had lived in her South Los Angeles home for about 50 years without having to make any major repairs to it. So, naturally, when she realized that her heater’s floor switch was broken, she didn’t think twice about replacing the toggle herself. But a few days before jumping into the project, …