VIC News

Martin Luther King Commemoration

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:24:00 GMT

Martin’s Dream Generation to Generation

Monday, January 16, 2012

Keynote Speakers:

Dr. Bill Huling
Professor Emeritus, CSUN
and former Board Chair of VIC

Kevin Huling, son
Kristian Huling, granddaughter
Sharing first hand experiences of a Valley family realizing Martin’s Dream

Music Featuring:

Youth Musical Theatre of Woodland Hills and the Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church Choir

CD sets of Dr. King speeches to be awarded to four area schools

Where:
The Islamic Center of Reseda
18206 Victory Blvd.
Reseda, CA 91335-6434

Between Lindley on the east and Etiwanda on the west

Guests to remove shoes upon entering the hall

4:00 pm—5:00 pm Commemoration March followed by a light meal
5:30 pm — Program
6:30 pm — Reception

Refreshments provided by Valley Interfaith Council

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Ghandi Day Celebration

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:43:00 GMT

GANDHI DAY CELEBRATION

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2011
ST. STEPHEN’S LUTHERAN CHURCH
15950 CHATSWORTH STREET
GRANADA HILLS, CA 91344

Pluralism as a Bridge to Peace

3-5 pm – Indian Cultural Exhibits featuring jewelry and clothing vendors, exhibits & light refreshments

5-6:30 pm – Program

6:30-7 pm – Indian Vegetarian Dinner (a small donation will be appreciated)

Featured Speaker

Varun Soni, Ph.D.
Dean of Religious Life
University of Southern California

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For more information contact Rhetta Alexander at 818/781-1101

Download the complete flyer

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Remembering 9/11

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 03:30:00 GMT

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East Valley Senior Center Moves to Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:39:35 GMT

By Linda Rubin for StudioPatch.com

Lunch Entertainment

The new Sherman Oaks/East Valley Adult Center, which combines the services of two former facilities at one location, finally opens this week.

After months of demolition and construction, permits and certificates, packing and moving, the East Valley Multipurpose Senior Center has a new home and a new name.

The Sherman Oaks/East Valley Adult Center finally threw open its doors earlier this week. On the first day, 106 people came for lunch, far more than usual.

“It’s exciting to be here!” exclaimed the center's executive director, Sherry Revord. “I think everybody is excited. I think my staff is excited, my volunteers are excited. The seniors are certainly excited.”

Named by a focus group of seniors, the new center is sponsored by a partnership between the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks and the Valley Interfaith Council, which administers the multipurpose center. It combines the resources and services to the frail homebound provided by the East Valley center, as well as the classes that were offered there, with the recreational opportunities for active older adults of the Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Senior Citizens’ Center, which once stood at the current location, in Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Park.

“Both populations have new opportunities to get healthy and have fun,” Revord said.

In an accompanying video, we join the senior lunchers for a little musical entertainment, and then Revord takes us on a tour of the social service areas and introduces us to staff members and volunteers.

Roz Brown is senior recreation director for the Department of Recreation and Parks. The department's senior services are available to anyone over age 50. All of the programs cost only a minimal fee. Brown oversees use of all the buildings, including use by permit groups and federation clubs, “a big umbrella network of senior activities all over the city,” she said. Brown also deals with class instructors and students.

“There’s a lot of one-on-one interaction in this job,” Brown said. “If seniors call me about anything under the sun, I help them or make a referral or refer them to Valley Interfaith next door … or do anything it takes to make them happy and comfortable.”

In the second video, Brown (wearing a delightful mint-green sun hat) describes the Recreation and Parks offerings.

The three new and colorful, environmentally friendly buildings are set on a campus in the park at 5056 Van Nuys Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. There is plenty of free parking in a lot off Addison Street and in other lots around the park. For seniors who can no longer drive to the lunch program, the center provides van transportation. A new batch of Sherman Oaks clients have availed themselves of the center’s transportation program.

For clients 60 and older, the center’s service-area boundaries still extend from Victory Boulevard to Mulholland Drive and from Balboa Boulevard on the west to Clybourn Avenue on the east, described by federal funders as the “southeast Valley aging service area.”

Revord expects the service population to increase by about 25 percent. However, the center will not get increased funding or staff. As a result, client needs will have to be carefully examined. “I think we have a lot of room in our homebound meal program, which is good,” Revord said, “because as people in this community find out about it they’ll be referring us to their homebound friends and neighbors and relatives.”

The center’s class schedule includes bridge and mah-jongg, senior exercise, yoga, tai chi, line dance and salsa aerobics. Thursday in the lunchroom still means music and now the musicians and singers perform from a theatrical stage. Revord hopes to entice a chef into the state-of-the-art kitchen in the new multipurpose building to teach cooking-for-one classes or show how to prepare meals for diabetics.

“I think the seniors feel honored to have this new facility,” Revord said. “It makes them feel valued by the community.”

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Fighting for a Fair Economy

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 05:49:00 GMT

Laphonza Butler, President, SEIU-ULTCW is keynote speaker for VIC’s Annual Pre-Labor Day Program (CALABASAS, July 21, 2011) – Laphonza Butler, President, SEIU-ULTCW, will be the featured speaker for Valley Interfaith Council’s (VIC) annual Labor Day picnic and program to be held this year, one week before Labor Day on Sunday, August 28, 2011 at the Northridge United Methodist Church located at 9650 Reseda Blvd. at Superior St. in Northridge. Ms. Butler will speak on “Fighting for a Fair Economy”. SEIU ULTCW – the United Long Term Care Workers’ Union, represents 180,000 in-home caregivers and nursing home workers across California. In response to the outsourcing of millions of food service jobs, SEIU and Unite Here
joined forces to form Service Workers United to organize and represent food service workers. As secretary-treasurer, Butler has been a part of uniting 25,000 foodservice workers around the country in a virtually non-union industry.

All are welcome to VIC’s pre-Labor Day celebration and no reservations are required for the free family BBQ, which will begin at 5:30 pm, compliments of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and SEIU-ULTCW. The BBQ will be followed by the program at 7:00 pm. The purpose of this program is to strengthen the connection between the religious and labor communities in support of common values. Please come, celebrate the dignity of labor and
enjoy food, fun, great music, and an important message for us all! The event is co-sponsored by the County Federation of Labor and SEIU-ULTCW.
For further information, call Rhetta at VIC, 818/781-1101 (week-days only)

Download the Flyer: VIC Labor Day Flyer 2011.pdf

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