Shields For Families Inc

A Compton drug treatment program regarded as one of the nation's most novel and successful residential recovery operations has been flooded with offers of financial and other support. SHIELDS for Families Inc., the nonprofit organization that runs Keith Village, received calls from about 700 people in the past few days, offering money or donations of books, toys and clothing.

At a recent state Senate hearing, Perry Crouch wanted some answers to his questions about the $2-billion Alameda Corridor--the proposed rail expressway designed to speed cargo to and from the county's ports. Would the project generate enough jobs to help the area's unemployed, Crouch asked members of the Senate Transportation Committee. Were there conflicts of interest involving prominent lawyers and companies doing business with the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority?

At a recent state Senate hearing, Perry Crouch wanted some answers to his questions about the $2-billion Alameda Corridor--the proposed rail expressway designed to speed cargo to and from the county's ports. Would the project generate enough jobs to help the area's unemployed, Crouch asked members of the Senate Transportation Committee. Were there conflicts of interest involving prominent lawyers and companies doing business with the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority?

A Compton drug treatment program regarded as one of the nation's most novel and successful residential recovery operations has been flooded with offers of financial and other support. SHIELDS for Families Inc., the nonprofit organization that runs Keith Village, received calls from about 700 people in the past few days, offering money or donations of books, toys and clothing.

Three-year-old Tamika Triggs is safe today. Clean, fed and supervised by responsible adults, she no longer needs to pretend to sleep on her mother's lap as the woman shoots up heroin and smokes crack cocaine. Los Angeles County social workers tracked down Tamika on Sunday after she was featured in a Times series, "Orphans of Addiction," by urban affairs writer Sonia Nazario and staff photographer Clarence Williams. She now lives temporarily in the respite of a foster home.

On Feb. 24, 26-year-old Stacey Davis, broke and recovering from an addiction to speed, checked into a Long Beach hospital, where a doctor sterilized her by tying her tubes. The next day, an Orange County organization mailed her a check for $200. "I'm not going to lie," said Davis, a mother of three children in foster care. Although certain she didn't want any more children, she was also attracted by the promise of a reward. "I mean, I need the money right now. I need to do something for me."

In a two-story apartment building in the core of Compton, something magical is happening. Children are playing. Moms are cooking. Souls are healing. "We're like the damn Brady Bunch," says Beatrice McClendon--amazing words from a woman who not so long ago was spending more time with her crack pipe than with her children.