‘Someone to Talk to . . . Right Here’ : Housing: Low-income residents of the Holiday Venice project now get help on-site from two counselors hired with federal funds. It makes a big difference, they say.

Whether they’re job hunting, filing for citizenship or seeking counseling, residents of the 15 federally subsidized buildings in Oakwood, known collectively as Holiday Venice, now have an on-site source of help.

Two “tenant-relation specialists,” each with a background in social work, were hired by the complex’s management company in November as part of a $60,000 program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Robert Flores and Lenora Wright, working in an office in a Holiday Venice building on the corner of 7th Avenue and Broadway, assist low-income tenants struggling with a variety of problems, including illiteracy, lack of child care, unemployment and ill health.

“It’s a working attempt to improve the lifestyle of the residents and children in the buildings . . . an acknowledgment to the tenants that people care,” said David Itkin, vice president of Alliance Housing Corp., the management company.

Many of the residents in the 246-unit complex, most of whom receive federal rent assistance even though the properties are privately owned, have already felt the effects of the new policy.

“Before the (counselors) came, there was no outreach,” said Julia Davis, president of the Holiday Venice Tenant Action Committee, a residents’ organization. “Many residents felt powerless because they didn’t have any information. But now people have access; they know where to turn for help.”

Added Davis: “It’s a better approach than just providing security, where if you have a problem they just bash you over the head.”

Alliance has in the past relied primarily on private security to handle such problems as drug dealing and crime. In November, 1992, the management firm hired a company affiliated with the Nation of Islam to provide security for the complex.

After almost a year of controversy over allegations that the firm, N.O.I. Security Agency Inc., turned a blind eye to drug dealing, Alliance fired N.O.I. and hired Special Protective Services, using $900,000 a year in federal funds.

“With the success of the (counselors), hopefully the armed security can be reduced,” Itkin said.

Since the two counselors arrived a few months ago, they have met with community groups, provided referrals and intervened in several personal crises. They have helped a domestic battery victim get counseling and request a restraining order, and they have directed children to a new Head Start program in the neighborhood.

The counselors also have asked the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to open chapters in the area, and they hope to set up an after-school tutorial project for Holiday Venice children using students from UCLA, Loyola Marymount University and Santa Monica College.

“We’ve had a positive impact on people’s lives,” Wright said. “Some residents were a bit standoffish at first, but with interaction they’ve opened up. They see we’re not here to pump them for information but are here to help.”

On a recent morning, Wright and Flores walked door-to-door through the tidy complex to hand out flyers for a financial aid workshop they hope to conduct Tuesday for prospective college students and their parents.

Guadalupe Sorriano, a 20-year-old woman with two small children, was grateful for the information, saying she hopes to return to college. The visit prompted a 50-year-old woman living with her grandson to contemplate getting her high school diploma.

For the buildings’ many young people, a few hours of help in correctly filling out a federal student aid application can often determine where, or even whether, they attend college. The form’s text of 108 questions and 106 explanations can be daunting; to a Spanish-speaking family, the application, written in English, can be overwhelming.

About half of Holiday Venice residents are Latino, and for the past few weeks Wright and Flores have been searching for a 1995-96 Spanish version of the form; it is currently out of stock.

“It doesn’t matter if a student has a 4.0 grade-point average; the parents must understand the money aspect,” Wright said.

Other bits of misinformation can stymie the application process.

“Some residents think their rents will go up if their kids receive college grants,” Itkin said.

Residents say the ready availability of such information gives them more confidence that they can deal with their problems. But most important, they say, is the presence of the counselors.

One resident, a single mother of three children, felt she was losing control of her family. Full-time work left little time for her children, who were beginning to feel the pull of the street.

“I was so depressed, I didn’t know what to do and felt all by myself,” said the woman, who asked to remain unidentified. “Having the (counselors) here has made a lot of difference. I just needed someone to talk to. I don’t have to go miles away on a bus; they’re right here.”