Latest news with #LouveniaJenkins
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pacific Palisades woman celebrates 97th birthday months after losing longtime home in Palisades Fire
LOS ANGELES - Louvenia Jenkins would have liked to celebrate her 97th birthday at the home she has lived in for a good 60 years — the home she bought in the Pacific Palisades as a single African American woman, at a time when segregation kept non-whites away from such neighborhoods and banks didn't grant home loans to women. But her home was one of the thousands destroyed in January's Palisades Fire. The backstory Getting her home wasn't easy. Owners wouldn't accept her offers. But she joined the Fair Housing Council, which fought discriminatory housing prices. It was a member of the council who sold her the home. Now, she's working to start over. It isn't easy, but Jenkins is embracing it with the grace and strength that has been guiding her all her life. The retired teacher has been breaking barriers her entire life. She said she just didn't see them. SUGGESTED: Palisades Fire victims hold first community event since deadly blaze Why you should care Jenkins was a teacher and administrator for LAUSD, funding a scholarship for Black college students in her brother's name. She traveled the world, teaching in Japan and Malaysia; visiting the Louvre in Paris; and making her way from Coastal Ghana to the Swiss Alps. She managed to win over people wherever she traveled. Labeled a pillar of the community by Pacific Palisades neighbors, she would often be seen volunteering at the library to work with children on their reading. No wonder the community gathered to create a GoFundMe campaign when she lost her home and everything in it. Overwhelmed by the support, Jenkins says she may have lost a home, but not her community, which now includes a whole new group of friends at the retirement home she is presently staying at. "At the end" she quotes a poem from one of her Getty Museum volunteer journal articles: "I am responsible for being what I want to be in spite" of whatever may come her way. The Source Information in this story is from interviews with Louvenia Jenkins.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: Extinguish the smoldering falsehood that everyone in the Palisades is wealthy
To the editor: I've lived in the Pacific Palisades for nearly 30 years. I found this story overly critical of our healing diverse community ("Palisades could rebuild with more affordable housing. But many in the wealthy area oppose the idea," March 3). Prior to the fire, many residents lived in rent-controlled apartments. With some low-income housing, these folks might be able to return to the area. Pacific Palisades is so much more than the image presented by developer Rick Caruso's Palisades Village. Deborah Alexander, Pacific Palisades .. To the editor: The super-wealthy residents of this exclusive enclave don't want any affordable housing, not even one building on the toxic grounds of the old gas station. Yet they will gladly take federal, state and city funding as well as personal GoFundMe contributions. They are all very liberal in words, yet not-in-my-neighborhood in practice. And yes, the rest of us L.A. residents, who will not ever be able to own a house in such neighborhoods, have to be empathetic. The American Dream, in contemporary times, is relegated to the rich. Michele Castagnetti, Los Angeles .. To the editor: The piece about Louvenia Jenkins was one of the most beautifully written and powerful stories I have read in a long time. ("She was one of the first Black homeowners in the Palisades. At 96, she is starting over," Feb. 27) Jill Smith, Pacific Palisades The writer lost her home in the fire and is currently living in Silver Lake. .. To the editor: The story about Louvenia Jenkins brought back many fond memories of playing tennis at Rustic Canyon Park. She was part of the group of players who made the tennis courts home in the mid-1960s. Like Louvenia, I no longer play tennis and live in a senior home. The memories remain. William Minderhout, Woodland Hills .. To the editor: All the sympathy and sorrow I felt for those who lost their multimillion-dollar homes in the fire was burned out of my brain by the story in Tuesday's edition. It didn't take long for their true colors to come through. There's a long distance between setting up drug dens on the corner and providing some apartments that teachers, nurses and small business owners can afford. I'm going to be rooting for Justin Kohanoff to realize his dream of turning a burned-out gas station into affordable housing. Penny Ramos, Redlands This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
05-03-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Extinguish the smoldering falsehood that everyone in the Palisades is wealthy
To the editor: I've lived in the Pacific Palisades for nearly 30 years. I found this story overly critical of our healing diverse community ('Palisades could rebuild with more affordable housing. But many in the wealthy area oppose the idea,' March 3). Prior to the fire, many residents lived in rent-controlled apartments. With some low-income housing, these folks might be able to return to the area. Pacific Palisades is so much more than the image presented by developer Rick Caruso's Palisades Village. Deborah Alexander, Pacific Palisades .. To the editor: The super-wealthy residents of this exclusive enclave don't want any affordable housing, not even one building on the toxic grounds of the old gas station. Yet they will gladly take federal, state and city funding as well as personal GoFundMe contributions. They are all very liberal in words, yet not-in-my-neighborhood in practice. And yes, the rest of us L.A. residents, who will not ever be able to own a house in such neighborhoods, have to be empathetic. The American Dream, in contemporary times, is relegated to the rich. Michele Castagnetti, Los Angeles .. To the editor: The piece about Louvenia Jenkins was one of the most beautifully written and powerful stories I have read in a long time. ('She was one of the first Black homeowners in the Palisades. At 96, she is starting over,' Feb. 27) Jill Smith, Pacific Palisades The writer lost her home in the fire and is currently living in Silver Lake. .. To the editor: The story about Louvenia Jenkins brought back many fond memories of playing tennis at Rustic Canyon Park. She was part of the group of players who made the tennis courts home in the mid-1960s. Like Louvenia, I no longer play tennis and live in a senior home. The memories remain. William Minderhout, Woodland Hills .. To the editor: All the sympathy and sorrow I felt for those who lost their multimillion-dollar homes in the fire was burned out of my brain by the story in Tuesday's edition. It didn't take long for their true colors to come through. There's a long distance between setting up drug dens on the corner and providing some apartments that teachers, nurses and small business owners can afford. I'm going to be rooting for Justin Kohanoff to realize his dream of turning a burned-out gas station into affordable housing. Penny Ramos, Redlands
