The beige building can sometimes be easy to miss driving down Cesar Chavez Avenue in East Los Angeles. But it is home to a standout organization dedicated to advancing the quality of life for so many families and individuals in the community.
Alma Family Services strives to help individuals with a variety of needs whether it is emotional difficulties, physical delays or developmental challenges. A range of services, including substance abuse programs, behavioral health services, and family and peer support, carries out this mission.
Doors of Alma Family Service's East Los Angeles location, Centro Estrella, open at 8 in the morning. The parking lot fills up within the hour. In one of the front spots of the parking lot, Maria Diaz waits in her mini van for her granddaughter, who has Down syndrome, to finish her appointment with her psychiatrist inside. Centro Estrella just celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Diaz's granddaughter is one of the first children to participate in Centro Estrella's programming. They have been coming here nearly every day for the past decade.
"She does not like to talk much but coming to these sessions has opened her up," says Diaz. "She loves to speak to the doctor. When we do not take her to Centro Estrella, she gets mad and starts crying."
Inside, several families are sitting in the common areas waiting for their program to begin. The organization generally gets around 100 people to come to the center each day. Numbers have been growing over the years.
Next to the main waiting room are the offices of Alma Family Services staff. Visitors can find Guillermo Cruz, Alma Family Service's case manager, here.
Cruz primarily oversees the Socialization Training Program. The program meets the needs of people from ages 5 to 21 with mental disabilities. The program focuses on developing social skills in a positive environment for each participant. It offers different opportunities, such as taking them out to the community to learn how to take the bus, to develop the individual's social experiences.
"We need to take them in because if people don't help them, who knows how their lives will be affected," says Cruz.
Cruz says some people come out of these programs with joy. Others cry from the pain the organization helps them deal with. This is Guillermo's 8th year working for the organization. Talking about its meaning and the impact it has on these individuals chokes him up.
"I have worked for other agencies but this really one of the only agencies I have worked for that opens its doors to everyone, especially those who need guidance and help the most," says Cruz. "We have never turned a person away."
Although Alma Family Services primarily focuses on programming for individuals and families with special needs, the organization also has services open to the rest of the community. Across the staff offices lies the preschool. Monday through Friday, laughter and noise from children escapes through the classroom door.
Behind the preschool playground is the Alma Family Services Aquatic Center. Children in the preschool program participate in a Learn to Swim program one to two times a week at the Aquatics Center. Children learn swimming basics and water safety.
On Thursdays, the Aquatic Center hosts a Future Swimmers Program where children, ages 3 and up, learn how to competitively swim.
Check out this video to see a session of a beginner's class for children at the Aquatics Center.
Alma Family Services touches the lives of a variety of people with a range of needs. Marking its 10-year anniversary calls for a celebration.
"I hope they never take it away," says Maria Diaz.