Watch the highlights from the Be the Change Action Conference here:

On Saturday, March 19th, 2011, Community Coalition mobilized more than 200 people -- parents, relative caregivers, social service providers, residents, youth and community leaders from South LA -- to the Be the Change: South LA Action Conference. 

The first major Community Coalition conference in over 10 years, the South LA Action Conference brought together inspirational speakers, engaging workshops and great people who care deeply about the community.

Community Coalition organizes residents on education reform, relative care, nuisance abatement and neighborhood transformation.

"No one can argue that we can be the change," said keynote speaker Congresswoman Karen Bass, founder and former executive director of Community Coalition. "Community Coalition plays a key role in the movement for economic justice."

The conference was a major call to action to get South LA residents involved with ongoing campaigns and progressive work to improve South LA.

"Our fear now is that not enough parents are involved to help improve South LA, so we are dedicated to ensuring that more parents get involved," said parent leader Rosalina Olazada with Community Coalition's parent organizing group. Rosalina and her husband Rafael Aquinoga were just some of the community members who spoke at the event.

For many, the conference was an important event that discussed some of the most serious issues affecting South LA. Among those is relative care and the lack of equitable resources for relative caregivers and their children. "This is not a job, this is my life. This is my family. We need Community Coalition to raise these issues to the agencies that are involved like the Department for Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the Department for Mental Health (DMH) can meet our needs," said Deann D'Antignac who shared her story to the audience.

"Sixteen years ago when I became a relative caregiver for my nieces, my sons were getting ready to go to college. I was not planning on becoming a new mom all over again. But it was either me or foster care, so I accepted the call," said Deann. "Although I love my nieces very much, it is not easy taking on the responsibility as their parent. Getting adequate assessments in order to get resources has been a major challenge. My children need special services to maximize their potential. Getting help with it has been extremely difficult." Deann is not only an active member of Kinship in Action, but she, along with other relative caregivers, lead the current campaign to win wellness resources for kinship families.

There was a special presentation by South Central Youth Empowered thru Action (SCYEA) made by youth leader Hulices Garcia, who gave a poignant speech honoring Community Coalition's earliest and longest members, and a deeply felt tribute to the members who have passed away in the last 20 years.

Be the Change Workshops

There were four special workshops where attendees engaged around important issues affecting the South LA community. Parents and education stakeholders attended the "Building the Next Generation of Leaders" workshop that examined the current conditions of South LA schools and a course of action targeting key legislators was discussed.

The foster care and kinship care workshop entitled "Keeping Families Together" gave attendees a comprehensive analysis of the political landscape in the child welfare scene. Residents worried about crime and violence attended the "Create Safe and Healthy Communities" that discussed replicable models of neighborhood transformation.

The final workshop "Strengthening the Social Safety Net" was geared for social service providers with special panelists that engaged attendees around best practices and the impact of the health care reform.

Looking Forward

"We must continue to fight today and to dream about tomorrow. You have to close your eyes for a minute---you have to dream---you have to have a vision of South LA---of the community we know we can build and we have to all make that commitment and when times are hard we have to renew that commitment and when we renew that commitment and when we have a clear picture of the vision and a clear vision of the community we know we can build---then we can feel confident that we have become the CHANGE!" said Congresswoman Bass.

The program was emceed by Manuel Pastor, USC Professor and Director of the Program for Environment and Regional Equity, and opening comments were made by Community Coalition President and CEO Marqueece Harris-Dawson.

Special program speakers included Revered Lewis Logan of Ruach Christian Community Fellowship; Teresa Samaniego, Director of Public Relations for KABC Channel 7 and Deborah Bryant, Vice President of Home Entertainment Royalty Reporting with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., both serve on Community Coalition's Board of Directors; Earl Massey, field representative with Congresswoman Karen Bass and original member of Community Coalition; Community Coalition members Les Benson, Rosalina Olazada, Rafael Aquinoga, and relative caregiver Deann D'Antignac.

To view more photos from the South LA Action Conference, click on the slideshow below: