SOCIAL GROUPS TOLD TO IMPROVE; RESIDENTS SAY NEEDS UNMET.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

Their community has long been notorious for drug dealers, overcrowded dwellings and gangs. But North Hills leaders found they have another problem: Sometimes too much help in fighting problems can be no help at all.

The East Valley area has nearly 300 nonprofit social service agencies, but no plan to harness that aid to meet residents' needs.

After months of research and debate, residents crafted a plan to make their community a better place to live. Next, they'll ask Los Angeles city officials to make it happen.

The North Hills Community-Based Organizations Collaborative, composed of at least 16 North Hills organizations, last week released 62 proposals for tackling the community's problems.

The group found 290 nonprofit, social service agencies within two miles of the United Methodist Church in the 15000 block of Rayen Street.

``This report is about calling agencies to the table,'' said Vince Velivis, who spearheaded the effort. ``It's saying that if you do offer these programs, then you had better be there to deliver them. There's no bluffing here.''

It's a simple solution for an area that has been showered with attention by numerous city agencies in recent years, from a special Los Angeles police task force tackling crime to the multi-agency Community Impact Team.

But while crime has decreased dramatically in the area - by more than 70 percent over a five-year period - the more basic needs aren't being met communitywide, Velivis said.

The report's recommendations range from establishing after-school activities at elementary schools and offering citizenship classes to providing tattoo removals for gang members and teaching crime prevention strategies to neighborhood groups.

``It has to start from the grass roots,'' said Velivis, director of a substance abuse prevention program. ``Agencies in the past got grants and forgot to ask the community what its needs were.''

One of the main missing links in previous efforts to help North Hills was outreach, said North Hills Coordinating Council president Harry Coleman, who praised the report.

``I was frustrated at times, I must admit,'' Coleman said. ``But I had to keep in sight the reasons causing the lack of outreach - the intimidation of gang members, the political factions, the over-competition of different agencies bidding for services.''

With crime dropping significantly in the past year and a half, North Hills is now in a position to address the quality of life issues, Coleman said.

``It was a real cesspool in 1993,'' he said. ``Since then we see not a cesspool, but a community coming together again, not a haven for drug dealers and prostitutes and gang members. This effort right here has the potential of solving a lot of the problems that existed before.''

One of the collaborative's outreach tactics involves providing the community a comprehensive list of available services, said Tim Page, founder and director of Total Involvement Ministry in North Hills.

For the past year and a half, Page has distributed fliers on after-school programs and events to schoolchildren at a Kool-Aid stand he sets up outside the United Methodist Church.

Now Page wants to publish a newspaper ad with a list of services.

``We don't really need any more agencies to combat the problem,'' he said. ``Unfortunately, people need to be prompted, or maybe they don't even know (the problem) exists.''

Some of the recommendations will be implemented immediately by local agencies, while others involving city agencies or the Los Angeles Police Department must be the topic of public discussion first.

IMPROVING NORTH HILLS

The North Hills Community-Based Organizations Collaborative - about 16 community groups - spent months researching ways to improve the community. Here is a list of some of its ideas and how long it might take to implement them.

Immediate

Form a community advisory board composed of community members and other interested people who live in the targeted area. Integrate it with city departments.

Continue to spread the word about the function and responsibility of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Establish a Project Amigos in North Hills.

Maintain and release ongoing crime statistics.

Coordinate with Police Activity League supporters to expand youth activities.

Continue to support rehabilitation programs.

Continue efforts to enforce building codes within North Hills.

Promote use of Sepulveda Recreational Park.

Coordinate the repair and upgrade of streets, sidewalks and lighting, etc.

Work with community groups to promote a positive, attractive image for the area.

Organize North Hills health fair.

Short range

Arrange for members of the LAPD to speak to neighborhood groups about crime prevention strategies.

Sponsor crime prevention workshops with youths and the elderly.

Establish a community relations office in North Hills.

Establish communication with Business Watch programs in area.

Coordinate Operation Sparkle for neighborhood.

Provide educational literature and workshops on rehabilitation programs to residents.

Work with elementary schools to establish after-school recreational activities.

Encourage better coordination of current recreational activities.

Enforce parking requirements in North Hills.

Continue neighborhood cleanups in North Hills.

Work with city street cleaning officials to expand number of passes in area.

Work with area businesses to encourage attractive images both inside and outside their properties.

Provide job training for residents of North Hills on a continual basis.

Provide a tattoo removal program for North Hills residents.

Offer an English as a Second Language program in the area.

Provide education efforts in North Hills and expand efforts to include all groups.

Continue outreach efforts in North Hills and expand them to include all groups.

Establish health programs and health information for residents.

Establish a periodic community forum for North Hills.

Develop youth leadership forums for residents.

Establish bicycle safety programs for youths of North Hills.

Offer counseling programs for individual, family and groups.

Offer parenting courses for residents of North Hills.

Provide prenatal and pediatric services for residents.

Establish legal aid program for residents of North Hills.

Provide domestic violence awareness presentations.

Provide various training (cooking, computer, etc.) on an as-needed basis.

Provide services to assist with clothing, food and basic materials.

Medium range

Develop community service projects (graffiti removal, cleanups, etc.) for juvenile offenders, residents on parole, etc.

Establish daytime bicycle patrols for North Hills.

Encourage and support efforts to establish mini-parks and pocket parks in open areas of North Hills.

Coordinate mentoring programs with local businesses.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, box

PHOTO (1) Vince Velivis, director of a substance abuse prevention program, says East Valley social service agencies must be held accountable.

(2 -- 3) Tim Page, left, checks ID cards that allow children to get after-school beverages, snacks and access to programs. Harry Coleman, above, gives his input at a meeting at the United Methodist Church.

David Sprague/Daily News

Box: IMPROVING NORTH HILLS (see text)