By Diego Olivares
The Associated Student Union sponsored the Resource Event of Spring 2014 held on April 24.
Located at East Los Angeles College’s E7 main walkway, the event is part of the Violence Intervention Program.
“It was something the staff wanted.” ASU President Eduardo Vargas said. “It’s to provide psychological help that a student may need.”
The event allows many programs to get their message out to students. Many of the programs there help students with their personal issues.
Some of these students could be dealing with difficulties such as violence, health problems and family conflict.
The first group there was the Victim Assistance Program. The program helps students who are victims of any forms of violence.
“We work with victims of violent crimes, rapes, child abuse, homicides,” said program representative Joanne Zaratan. “The program is an application for victims to get assistance.”
The second group that was there was East Los Angeles Community Corporation. “We help out people with first time buying.” representative Roberto Carlos Coto said.
Coto serves as a program Co-Coordinator and Outreach Specialist. The mission of the ELACC is to try to give troubled neighborhoods aid. They hope to empower those students in need.
A group known as ALMA Family Services was also part of the event. ALMA Family Services offers an aid for families in need.
Services offered by them includes aid in behavioral health services, family and peer support and volunteers/internship programs.
Health care services were also offered at the event. This was represented by the Care 1st Health Plan.
Care 1st Health Plan is connected to Medi-Cal. According to program representative Adriane Chung, the program is very different from what other medical health plans offer.
“The special thing that makes us different is we provide transportation to the doctor’s office.” Chung said.
Violence Intervention Team was also present at the event.
The group is in connection with ELAC’s Women and Men’s support center. Like the Victim Assistance Program, V.I.T. aids with students who are victims of a violent act.
“We help students that they’re not alone in this, that we’re willing to help students who fall victim to violence.” said Representative Joanna Carrasquilla.
One of the last programs at the event was the HIV Prevention Program. The program has been operating for over 17 years.
“The program is designed for women, but we do male workshops. We have free HIV testing every Friday.” said by representative Priscilla Veloz.
The program is also one of the few that deals with victims of sexual violence and assault. By the afternoon, the event slowly came to a close and the representatives left.
ASU President Vargas hopes that this continued the club’s positive goal. “I guess the main goal is to help the students who are struggling and let them know there’s help on campus.” He said.
The next ASU Resource Event will be in Fall of 2014.