Feast or Famine for "Connected Non-Profits" ??

"Did Mayor Villaraigosa stiff Father Boyle's Homeboy Industries"

Memo to Celeste Fremon at Witness LA.

How can you be surprise that the former Tony Villar, now known to all as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, fail to keep a promise ??

Look if the guy could lie to his wife, then what would keep him from saying that the "Check is in the Mail", to the man he once equated to Jesus Christ, Father Greg Boyle ??

Non-profits like most for-profits entities are suffering through hard times made even worst by President Obama and those socialists that reign in Sacramento, but I digress.

Homeboy Industries has been held up as the shining example of what a non-profit, with an visionary front person can accomplish, with the sincere support of those in the public and private sector.

But sadly, sincere non-profits are being usurped by "connected non-profits", created by elite insiders, for the benefit of the exclusive few, not for the greater community.

And as you push Homeboy's "Virtual Carwash Fundraiser", which I'll link here, in the spirit of seeing a carwash use for something positive, and not for raising funds to bury another young life. Let me highlight how some "connected non-profits" use public money.

Take this motion on tomorrows City Council Agenda.

Barrio Action Summer Sports Activity - $10,000 --This activity will provide funding to

Barrio Action Youth and Family Center to support a summer sports program between July 1,
2009 and September 19, 2009, Sport activities will include basketball, volleyball and indoor
soccer. Funding will be used to provide a recreation coordinator and necessary sports
equipment A total of 200 youth will be served, (another handout to Tammy)

EI Centro de Ayuda-Youth Enrichment Project - $13,000--This activity will provide funding
to the EI Centro de Ayuda to support a community Youth Enrichment Project (YEP), YEP will
provide gang prevention and violence prevention services by working with at-risk youth and their parents on school campuses and in the broader community, engage and educate local
communities on these issues and to promote public policies that directly impact these issues,
Funding will enable YEP to focus on the community engagemenUeducation and policy
developmenUpromotion purposes of the Youth Enrichment Project, including costs associated
with holding community forums in northeast Los Angeles communities of Boyle Heights and EI Sereno, honorariums for key forum/community speakers, staffing the project, and publication of policy recommendations resulting from the forums, (Raul makes another Harley payment)

Then there is the new poster boy for "connected non-profits" Legacy LA.

But Celeste, while Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has yet to come through with the $500,000 for Homeboy Industries, let me share this little nugget of public funding coming their way from the proposed budget for the Summer Night Lights Program.

c. Allocate up to $210,000 for a contract with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps (LACC) to
manage youth squad and community program coordination team members providing services at the 16 SNL sites; (the same group DWP payed $100+ per tree to plant)

****d. Allocate up to $200,000 for the costs of shirts from Homeboy Industries for SNL.program participants and staff; and

e. Allocate up to $50,000 for custodial services, utilities and staff time directed towards the
operation of SNL at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center by the Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD);

So Celeste, not all is lost for Homeboy Industries, at least until Antonio's associates come calling for those franchise fees/ campaign contributions.

Your thoughts...........