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POLA Students Bring Hope for the Homeless
Riley Beres, photo courtesy of the Beres family.
Monica, a peer counselor at a homeless shelter speaks to feeling “at home” on the streets. “The rats don’t discriminate against you,” she
Community/Family February 21
LGBT Center Movie Night The Long Beach Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center will be hosting movie night at 7 p.m. Feb. 21. Those attending may bring their own movie and the feature will be chosen by the audience. The suggested donation is $5, but nobody is turned away. Refreshments will be included. Details: (310) 328-6550; www.southbaycenter.org Venue: South Bay Center Location: 16610 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance
February 22
South Bay Quilters Guild 2014 Quilt Show: Wish Upon a Star The South Bay Quilters present the South Bay Quilters Guild 2014 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Feb. 22 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Feb. 23. View more than 200 member quilts and garments on display in the Quilt Gallery and browse through many quilting supplies from your favorite vendors. A miniature quilt Continued from page 14.
LB Arts Council and enables the awards to be granted throughout the year. “The organization right now is going through a makeover,” Asadi said. “There is a strategic plan drafted, which is the result of months of research and community meetings. Within that strategic plan are major shifts for the organizations role in the next four or five years.” Asadi also stated that marketing partnerships are being sought with other arts organizations within the city. The objective is to cut the reliance on unpredictable funding from the city. “Creative economies are the future,” he said. “Any healthy city wants to have arts and culture embedded within their city. We have symphony, we have opera and we have the entire infrastructure. Unfortunately, this argument has not been accepted by our friends in city hall.” Asadi and many others in the arts community are eagerly looking forward to the municipal elections which will change the face of the city; a new mayor and five new city council seats to Long Beach. The hopes are for a receptive city government with an appreciation for the arts. In the meantime, John Glaza has left the Arts Council with a few more dollars in their bank account. Whoever replaces Glaza will lead a more stable organization that will hopefully lead Long Beach beyond its reputation as a platform for emerging artists and towards the destination for arts it has always hoped to become.
February 22
South Bay Comedy Jam Hang out with Memphis Will and friends at the South Bay Pavilion every second and fourth Saturday. Admission is free, starting at 5 p.m. Tips and proceeds will benefit Last Time Entertainment Details: (818) 392-9565 Venue: South Bay Pavillion Location: 20700 Avalon Blvd., Carson Alumni Baseball Game A San Pedro High School alumni baseball game is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 22, at the SPHS baseball field. Details: (760) 866-1949 Venue: SPHS Location: 1001 W. 15th St., San Pedro
February 26
15th Annual Dance Collaboration Effort The Torrance Unified School District is hosting its 15th Annual Dance Collaboration Effort at 7 p.m., Feb. 26 and 7 p.m., Feb. 27. Watch the students of the TUSD participate in dance programs and congregate for this annual dance event. Ticket prices are yet to be determined. Details: www.torrancearts.org Venue: James Armstrong Theatre Location: 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance
March 2
Muller House Museum’s First Sunday Series The San Pedro Historical Society presents Mona Dallas Reddick as part of their First Sunday Speaker Series. The topic of the talk is titled, “The Great Pt. Fermin Slump: Early Accounts of Sunken City.” Admission is free. The talk starts is from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Tours of the house will be given at 3p.m. Details: sanpedrobayhistoricalsociety.org or email: sanpedrohistory@gmail.com. Venue: Muller House Location: 1542 S. Beacon St., San Pedro
Theater/Film February 20
Handel’s Opera Acis and GalaTea Musica Angelica presents Handel’s Opera Acis and GalaTea at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 20. This is a classic story about love, jealousy, rage and power. Ticket price ranges between $35 and $75. Check website for different showtimes. Details: www.musicaangelica.org Venue: Theatre Center Location: 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach Hope for Our Own: An LA Story Hope for Our Own: An LA Story, documenting homelessness in the region, will be showing at 6 p.m., Feb. 20. The documentary portrays the city’s homeless and their daily struggle. This is a free event, but attendees are asked to bring canned food, socks, toiletries and anything that could be donated for the cause. Details: (310) 548-2493; www.grandvision.org Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
February 21
Golden Like Girls A theater production team books, “The Golden Girls” for a reunion show, which sold out only to realize that three of the four original members are dead. What to do? what to do? Eureka! We will do the roles ourselves and nobody will be the wiser, right? Well, you be the judge and watch the hilarious antics these Golden Guys get themselves into. Get ready for The Golden Like Girls to unravel on stage. Runs through Feb. 23, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 2 p.m. Details: (310) 773-4964, www. thesanpedrotheatreclub.com Venue: San Pedro Theatre Club Location: 624 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro What a Drag What a Drag will be performed at the Long Beach Playhouse at 8 p.m., Feb. 21 and 22. This follows Calendar continued on page 16.
February 21 – March 6, 2014
Director of Family Services at Harbor Interfaith Services, Shari Weaver, screen capture from Hope of Our Own: LA Story.
March 1
Charmaine Clamor Charmaine Clamor gained recognition as the Queen of Jazzipino, blending jazz and Filipino traditional music. Her range has grown to include a stunning mix of jazz standards, with touches of blues and gospel. Clamor will be performing selections from her recently released album. General admission $20 in advance and $25 at the door, Cabaret table seat is $25 in advance (subject to availability). Cafe Deck VIP $30 advance bar ticket with drink service (limited to 15 people). Details: www.grandvision.org Venue: Grand Annex Location: 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
auction will take place at 1 p.m., Feb. 23 and an opportunity quilt will be raffled off at 4 p.m. Admission is $8 and no charge for children younger than 10. Details: (310) 781-7171; www.southbayquiltersguild. org Venue: Torrance Cultural Arts Center Location: 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance
ACE: Arts • Cuisine • Entertainment
The project started out with a visit to a local homeless shelter to deliver canned goods. Sixteen year-old directors Riley Beres and Jimmy Deshler agreed homelessness was a topic that needed to be illuminated. “Our hope right now is to get it into film festivals so it can be seen.” Beres said. “Our ultimate goal is to have it screened in other schools so it can become an education piece for our generation” Beres believes that many people are simply uneducated about the topic of homelessness. Her film goes a long way towards enlightening us on the topic. Although she and Deshler live in San Pedro, they took it on themselves to visit homeless shelters throughout Los Angeles. Faceto-face interviews conducted with people, many of whom spent years on the streets, reveal the many causes of homelessness. The well-crafted film opens with a street poet cautioning us to be careful of what we plan for our lives, because plans can go awry. Most of those interviewed on the street lived productive lives, which fell apart following a divorce, job loss or other life crises that prevented them from maintaining a home of their own.
said. “Eventually the abnormal becomes very normal…. I pitched a tent on 5th and Crocker and became very comfortable on the street.” A few of the individuals interviewed in the film will be familiar faces to San Pedrans. People we pass each day, standing in front of the 7-11 asking for a handout. Others interviewed have stories that almost any of us can relate to. Brigette tells us how she ended up in deep depression following the sudden death of her son in a car accident. Her depression led to her inability to work. “I had a meltdown and I ended up losing everything,” she said. She eventually spent five years living on the streets. “Skid Row is not downtown LA,” she explained. “It is wherever you lay your head for that moment. That is Skid Row.” Beres says she learned a lot from the people she interviewed. “I learned that there is so much more to life than we believe it to be,” Beres said. “It may take some self-evaluation, but there is always hope. If you just stick in there and you believe in yourself, you can get yourself out of any kind of situation.” “The most common story is economic turmoil, and not knowing how to get out of it…. Losing a job or missing a payment on your house, any kind of economic loss is the most common theme.” Families and children are the highest growing number of homeless on the streets. Some shelters, such as Harbor Interfaith Center in San Pedro have daycare centers so the parents can be free to seek employment. According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, there are 60,000 people living on the streets in Los Angeles County. Of that number, one-fifth have been homeless for more than a year. Many are veterans and runaways. Hope for Our Own isn’t Beres first go at directing and producing film. A budding actress, comedian and model, Beres has directed and produced three web series episodes and a short film. As homelessness affected members of her own family, she created this documentary. She became even more compassionate and focused on this complex subject while visiting Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission as an honorary youth board member of Children in Film. Jimmy Deshler is an actor, best known for his role as “Rafe” on ABC’s General Hospital and has made other co- and guest-star appearances on Criminal Minds and Disney XD’s Kickin’ It. He makes his directing debut with Hope For Our Own. Beres and Deshler were assisted by editor Nik Peter. Peter states he always wanted to help with the problem of homelessness and saw this as an opportunity to make a difference . Details: http://hopeforourown.wix.com/ hopeforourownla Venue: Warner Grand Theatre Location: 478 W. 6th St., San Pedro
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