Cleland House Organization

After proposing to base a summer program for East Los Angeles children and teen-agers at the financially troubled Cleland House on Dozier Street, the United Way decided instead this week to fund a similar program at another social center. United Way officials said they decided to base their summer program at the Eastside Boys and Girls Club because Eastside's proposed program offered more activities for youths than Cleland's more broad-based summer program.

An Eastside Los Angeles community center forced to close two years ago--only to become a hangout for gangs--has struggled back to its feet. The former Cleland House was hit with a combination of knockdown blows in 1990. Debts mounted to nearly $500,000, and the United Way cut off funds because of alleged fiscal mismanagement. Then came the Internal Revenue Service with a lien on the center for unpaid payroll taxes.

The United Way board voted unanimously Wednesday to halt funding of Cleland House on Dozier Street and to use the Latino social agency's remaining money for this year to establish a summer youth program for area residents.

After proposing to base a summer program for East Los Angeles children and teen-agers at the financially troubled Cleland House on Dozier Street, the United Way decided instead this week to fund a similar program at another social center. United Way officials said they decided to base their summer program at the Eastside Boys and Girls Club because Eastside's proposed program offered more activities for youths than Cleland's more broad-based summer program.

An Eastside Los Angeles community center forced to close two years ago--only to become a hangout for gangs--has struggled back to its feet. The former Cleland House was hit with a combination of knockdown blows in 1990. Debts mounted to nearly $500,000, and the United Way cut off funds because of alleged fiscal mismanagement. Then came the Internal Revenue Service with a lien on the center for unpaid payroll taxes.

From its beginning in 1922 as a Presbyterian Church settlement house to its blossoming as a Latino social service agency with a $500,000 annual budget, the Cleland House on Dozier Street provided counseling, job training, child care and sports programs to thousands in East Los Angeles. Called in times past "the jewel in East Los Angeles" and "the heart of the community," the agency was the first in the East Side to open a kindergarten, library and medical clinic for mothers and babies.

The United Way board voted unanimously Wednesday to halt funding of Cleland House on Dozier Street and to use the Latino social agency's remaining money for this year to establish a summer youth program for area residents.

From its beginning in 1922 as a Presbyterian Church settlement house to its blossoming as a Latino social service agency with a $500,000 annual budget, the Cleland House on Dozier Street provided counseling, job training, child care and sports programs to thousands in East Los Angeles. Called in times past "the jewel in East Los Angeles" and "the heart of the community," the agency was the first in the East Side to open a kindergarten, library and medical clinic for mothers and babies.