Steve Richardson has lived downtown all his life. A year or so ago, he was sitting in the day room of a hotel where he was living when screams were heard on the street. Two security guards, hired by a downtown business association, were harassing and physically manhandling a woman tenant, insisting that she leave the hotel where she lived. Police were called, but said there was nothing they could do to prevent such actions.

Dogon, as Richardson's co-workers call him, went down the street to Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) and began a process of study and action. With the assistance of the Legal Aid Foundation, he and other members of the organization effected overdue changes in the rules of security guards. The guards no longer carry weapons, must undergo sensitivity training and cannot photograph or detain individuals, but only observe and report incidents. Moreover, women and persons of color have been added to the force.

LA CAN leaders recently were sharing their stories with Tim Collins, the executive director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), and with parishioners from St. Bede the Venerable Church in La Caņada Flintridge. CCHD is the domestic anti-poverty, social justice program of the U.S. Catholic bishops. Its mission is to address the root causes of poverty in America through promotion and support of community-controlled, self-help organizations. Funding for organizations like LA CAN comes from a national collection held in parishes throughout the United States. The collection this year will be held on the weekend of November 19th.

Recently honored at the archdiocesan Office of Justice and Peace annual recognition dinner, LA CAN was founded in 1995 by Peter White, a Harlem-born social activist, to empower the low-income, homeless and formerly homeless residents of Skid Row.

"War is being waged against the poor in downtown L.A.," says White. There are some 8,500 single occupancy room accommodations in the Central City East community of Downtown Los Angeles that is generally known as Skid Row. A room has no kitchen facilities and the renter shares a bathroom with other tenants. Such accommodations cost a family as much as three-quarters of its low-wage monthly income.

Moreover, in what White characterizes as the "28-day shuffle," residents are routinely turned out before they have occupied a room for 30 days so that they will not earn tenants' rights and can be treated merely as hotel visitors whose occupancy can be terminated at will.

"We want to help the indigenous people in our community and empower them to help themselves," says White. "We live here and we know the problems. Together we possess the solutions to our problems."

Peggy Cummings, a three-year resident of the community, is an example of such empowerment. As a widow, her sole income was a monthly Social Security check based on her deceased husband's earnings. She was shocked to find herself penniless when the Social Security Administration declared her ineligible and halted the monthly automatic deposit to her bank account. With not even bus fare in her pocket, she walked to Union Rescue Mission and they took her in, providing food and shelter.

Grateful, she looked for a way to give back and her case worker told her about LA CAN. She volunteered and soon found a mission working on food assessment, interviewing women and children whose earnings are not sufficient to purchase food for the whole month. Now a staff member, Peggy says, "When you offer residents an opportunity to work, you see immediate change in people's lives."

Gradually, the organization has developed allies in the local power structure. The Legal Aid Foundation, LAMP, and the Skid Row Legal Clinic have assisted in educating residents about their rights and helping to provide access to legal remedies for harassment and civil wrongs. The City Attorney's office has assigned a group of attorneys to work with residents on housing issues.

Through the actions of LA CAN, a moratorium on the demolition of downtown SRO hotels has been enacted, giving the City Council time to study the issue of low cost housing.