Watts Labor Community Action Committee facts for kids

The Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) is a group that helps people in Watts, California. It is a non-profit organization that started in 1965. Its main goal is to make life better for people living in Watts and nearby areas.

The WLCAC was founded by Ted Watkins. He was part of the United Automobile Workers Union (UAW) just before the Watts riots happened in 1965 in Watts, California.

Theodore Watkins, known as Ted Watkins, was born in Mississippi in 1912. He moved to Los Angeles, California, when he was 13 years old because he faced a serious threat. He soon started working for Ford Motor Company. There, he joined the United Auto Workers union and quickly became an important leader. Ted Watkins saw many times that workers in the community were treated unfairly. With help from the United Auto Workers, he started the Watts Labor Community Action Committee. It became a well-known group that helped thousands of people find jobs and get important services.

Through WLCAC, Ted Watkins started many programs to help reduce poverty in Watts. These programs also worked to improve the lives of community members. During his life, Watkins helped build a bank and a hospital in Watts. He also helped create affordable homes and programs for young people. After riots in London, England, in 1981, the British prime minister asked Watkins to come and share WLCAC's methods. These were the same methods used after the Watts riots. Ted Watkins worked with leaders and officials to start many helpful programs through WLCAC.

Right before he passed away in 1993, Watkins helped rebuild WLCAC. The organization's building had been burned down during the Los Angeles riots in 1992.

How WLCAC Started

WLCAC began because the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles lacked many important things. These included ways to get around, good housing, programs for older people, job training, and health services. Watts also needed someone to speak up about high unemployment, poverty, and poor living conditions.

WLCAC's main office is located at 109th and Central Avenue in Watts, California.

The "War on Poverty"

In the 1960s, President Lyndon B. Johnson started a plan called the "War on Poverty." This plan aimed to lower the high poverty rate across the country. It led to the creation of the Economic Opportunity Act. This act set up the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to manage federal money for fighting poverty. The OEO was meant to fix high unemployment in poor areas. However, the OEO did not always have enough money to help as much as it promised. This led to many local groups, like WLCAC, forming to help their own communities.

Forming WLCAC

The Watts area faced big problems with jobs, housing, transportation, and education. This showed a clear need for a strong community group. By 1965, the number of people without jobs in Watts was very high. It was 10.7 percent, compared to only 4.2 percent for the whole city.

In the summer of 1965, Ted Watkins led local activists and union members to officially create WLCAC. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union was very important in starting WLCAC. UAW president Walter Reuther and regional director Paul Schrade helped build support for the new group. They saw the "War on Poverty" as a chance to make big changes. They believed that building community groups was the best way to make these changes happen.

The Watts Riots in August 1965 also brought attention to the problems in Watts. These riots made federal and local governments, as well as private groups, notice the poor living conditions. They also highlighted the lack of support in the Los Angeles area. Many people believe that those who took part in the Watts Rebellion were upset about unemployment, bad housing, and poor education. They were also upset about how they were treated by the police.

Ted Watkins's Vision

Ted Watkins was born in Mississippi in 1923. When he was 15, he moved to Los Angeles to escape danger. After high school, Watkins got a job at the Ford Motor Company. He joined the local UAW union there. In 1949, he became an "international representative for UAW." Besides his union work, Watkins was also involved in civil rights groups. These included the Watts chapter of the NAACP and the United Civil Rights Committee. These groups protested against poor housing and lack of services in inner-city Los Angeles. Ted Watkins's active involvement made him a great choice to lead WLCAC. When the UAW looked for a leader for WLCAC in 1966, Watkins had the right experience and skills.

Two main goals Ted Watkins wanted to achieve were building a hospital and a bank. The need for a hospital near Watts was urgent. Mr. Watkins worked with County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn to get community support for building a local hospital. As a result, the Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Willowbrook, California was built in 1972.

How WLCAC Gets Money

From the very beginning, WLCAC had an advisory board made up of major labor unions. These unions provided financial help. The unions included the United Auto Workers (UAW), the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and others. These unions gave a total of $100,000 in WLCAC's first two years.

In 1971, WLCAC used a $2 million loan from UAW-Chrysler to buy land. This helped them build more homes, adding to the first thirty homes built with money from California. Grants from the Ford Foundation also helped the organization a lot. This money paid for staff and helped start a business investment group for minority-owned businesses.

As a non-profit organization, WLCAC continues to seek and receive money from various programs. These come from city, county, state, and federal levels.

What WLCAC Does Today

The WLCAC campus is centered around its main headquarters. This area includes a youth center, job training programs, and family wellness programs. It also has the Ted Watkins Center for Communications, which features a theater, galleries, and a civil rights history museum. Within a short distance, there are more sites that offer services for older people and children. They also provide housing and more job training.

In April 2012, California State Parks announced a grant of $4.9 million to WLCAC. This money was for a new urban farm park and community center in Watts. The urban farm park is called MudTown Farms. It is named after the historic name for the area, MudTown. This farm is a self-supporting community center. It offers education, job training, community gardening, farming, and business opportunities for people of all ages. Construction on this project was planned to begin in 2017.

Today, WLCAC employs over 200 local residents. It has an annual budget of about $10 million.

The Center

The Watts Labor Community Action Committee is now led by Tim Watkins, Ted Watkins's son. A seven-acre complex in Watts called "The Center" is its main hub. According to WLCAC's website, The Center aims to "change wrong ideas" about Watts. The building is used as an office for staff and also as a place for visitors. It shows different exhibits throughout the year.

The main exhibit at The Center is the three-part Civil Rights Tour. This tour includes a model of a slave ship and many photographs remembering the Civil Rights Movement. It features photo collections like "Countdown to Eternity" by Benedict Fernandez and "The Panthers" by Howard Bingham. There is also a large bronze statue called "The Mother of Humanity" by Nigel Binns. Another exhibit, "Americana: The Hall of Shame," shows images and documents about how Black images were used in harmful ways. WLCAC says this exhibit is meant to "show how these images were used as an extension of slavery." There are also many murals displayed, including "The Resurrection of Watts" by Ras Ammar Nsoroma and "Concrete Jungle" by Richard Franco and Toni Love.

Besides permanent exhibits, WLCAC has built several facilities at The Center for community members. These facilities serve Watts and nearby cities in South Los Angeles. The Center includes a play area called "Kaboom" and a skate park. It also holds art classes for kids. The Howard Bingham Multimedia Institute is open to people of all ages. It lets community members use technology for many different purposes. For those who like art, the Cecil Fergerson Gallery offers a space for artists and art lovers to meet. They can hold exhibits, signings, or talks there. The gallery is in the Ted Watkins Center for International Communication. This large building also has Phoenix Hall, a theater, and Freedom Hall. The Universal Access Theatre provides many resources for young people. These include laundry machines, computers with internet, help with phone calls or mail for jobs, snacks, games, books, and tutoring. The Watts International Marketplace has studios for embroidery, silk-screening, ceramics, fine arts, glass blowing, woodworking, and photography. WLCAC is also developing a restaurant, library, and farmer's market for the marketplace. On the last Friday of every month, The Center hosts "Bones and Blues" in its Phoenix Hall. This event offers live music and other performances for adults.

Housing and Community Services

The Dolores McCoy Villa I housing complex for families without homes was created in 2011. This was a partnership between WLCAC and Affordable Housing CDC Inc. The project received a $3 million loan for funding. This complex has 64 units and is located near 92nd Street and Compton Avenue, close to the WLCAC center. It provides homes for people who earn less than 60% of the average income in the area. Each unit receives rental help, and rent is 30% of the family's income.

The Dolores McCoy Villa was created to help people who were previously without homes or who had been in jail. It aims to provide "much needed housing and on-site support services for single mothers returning to the community after being in jail." The Dolores McCoy Villa offers various services to its residents. These include help with managing money, job training, school counseling, and access to health care. It also provides other opportunities focused on families and skills for independent living.

The Watts Labor Community Action Committee offers many services for people in Watts and South Los Angeles. These services aim to reduce poverty and help the economy grow.

WLCAC also supports many programs for young people and their families. These include The Greater Watts Child Care Center, which provides affordable childcare. The Family Source Center offers social services like job training and health services. Gang Reduction and Youth Development provides programs to prevent young people from joining gangs. The WorkSource center helps thousands of job seekers with training, job placement, and keeping their jobs.

WLCAC also runs a program for senior citizens. This program offers fun activities, educational classes, health checks, and field trips. It provides day care, in-home care, and help with transportation for shopping or medical appointments. It also connects seniors to other social services. There is also a program that delivers meals to seniors at different locations.