Building Thriving Communities: A Vision for Regional Change
At Victor Manalo Consulting LLC, our mission is rooted in the belief that every neighborhood has the potential to be a place where families flourish. Through a "Community of Hope" framework, we facilitate community-led and community-based change to address systemic challenges and enhance the well-being of children and families.
With a generous discretionary grant from 4th District Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, our current work spans three vital Los Angeles County regions, each unique in its strengths and dedicated to building a more unified, supportive environment for its residents.
SSI was established by Storefront Safety Council (SSC) which works to prevent vehicle-into-building crashes by promoting best practices, educating professionals and stakeholders, documenting effective risk reduction strategies and facilitating local, municipal, and state legislation and ordinances. One of the most important efforts undertaken by the SSC is the collecting and reporting of unique data on private property and public access crashes involving commercial buildings, public buildings, public and private pedestrian paths of travel, pedestrian malls, transportation nodes, and many other areas where people eat, work, play and shop.
On April 25, 2014, my mother-in-law Marisa Malin took her three grandchildren (our children) to visit Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour in Buena Park, California. As they waited outside the restaurant, an elderly man and his wife got into their car, mistakenly put his car into Drive, and drove his car straight into a crowd of people. Marisa was killed instantly, and two of my three children were injured. My oldest daughter suffered two broken ankles, and our middle child suffered two skull fractures. Thankfully, they both survived without lasting physical or neurological damage.
At the time, I was serving as a Member of the Artesia City Council. Rob Reiter and the Storefront Safety Council helped me to understand that this was not a random accident, but a deadly crash that could be avoided. One year later, thanks to the diligent work of the city attorney and city staff, my city council colleagues and I voted to approve Ordinance 15-817 to establish a new outdoor dining and seating safety standard for parking lots in the city.
Let me know how I can help make your cities safe for pedestrians!