PACOIMA : Church Officials to Dedicate Facility

Presbyterian officials Sunday will dedicate a 10-bedroom ex-convent in Pacoima that now serves a project to help young, homeless Latino men get off the streets by giving them training for day-laborer work.

Purchased in December for $225,000, the facility once housed novices in an order of Catholic nuns. The first five Latinos, who moved in Feb. 1, are being taught the basics of painting, brick-laying and English as well as being provided a place to live for three months.

“This gives them a leg up compared to someone with no experience soliciting jobs on street corners,” said Clif Cartland of North Hills, a former pastor who runs a similar program in Echo Park. Cartland said Proyecto Esperanza (“Project Hope”), which gives the residents food stipends and teaches them price comparison techniques, “tries to build a sense of teamwork and cooperation” to help them survive after leaving the facility.

A brief report on the project will be made today in Van Nuys at the regular meeting of the Presbytery of San Fernando, the 34-church regional body of Presbyterian congregations that raised money for the program.