Pledger Counseling Center

In Pacoima, the drug addicts and street people chase their demons down Van Nuys Boulevard, past the old storefront churches, the liquor stores, the San Fernando Gardens housing project. And for those who tire of chasing the next drink or the next high, there is an unlikely refuge: A mom-and-pop social service agency run by a 55-year-old former housewife and her husband, a 61-year-old auto worker.

In Pacoima, the drug addicts and street people chase their demons down Van Nuys Boulevard, past the old storefront churches, the liquor stores, the San Fernando Gardens housing project. And for those who tire of chasing the next drink or the next high, there is an unlikely refuge: A mom-and-pop social service agency run by a 55-year-old former housewife and her husband, a 61-year-old auto worker.

The Los Angeles Times made awards of $5,000 apiece Thursday to 10 nonprofit organizations in the Ventura County and San Fernando Valley area. The winners were announced at the newspaper's second annual Community Partnership Awards luncheon at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. "You have been heroes to those whose lives you've touched," the keynote speaker, Gayle Wilson, Gov. Pete Wilson's wife, told the audience.

The Los Angeles Times made awards of $5,000 apiece Thursday to 10 nonprofit organizations in the Valley area and Ventura County. The winners were announced at the newspaper's second annual Community Partnership Awards luncheon at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. "You have been heroes to those whose lives you've touched," the keynote speaker, Gayle Wilson, Gov. Pete Wilson's wife, told the audience. About 400 people, representing a wide variety of charitable organizations, attended.

Los Angeles Mission College, a small community college in San Fernando, has attracted both curiosity and skepticism with the announcement that it will offer an outpatient drug and alcohol rehabilitation program in the guise of a one-semester class. According to Mission College administrators, students can use the revolutionary course to fight their drug or alcohol problems and earn three units of college credit at the same time.