Councilmember Traci Park (left) presents the Pioneer Woman Award to Sharon Browning.
Councilwoman Traci Park highlights a group, a nonprofit or business weekly in her newsletter. This week she selected the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness.
She wrote: “We are honoring the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness (PPTFH) as this week’s Park’s Pick. The PPTFH, formed in 2014 by concerned residents, has been instrumental in addressing the escalating homelessness crisis at the beach.
“Each year, the PPTFH interacts with more than 600 newly homeless individuals,” Park said. “They have engaged with hundreds of unhoused people and helped nearly 200 find pathways off the street.”
Sharon Browning, one of the co-presidents of the PPTFH received her Pioneer Woman of the Year award from Park this past week. She and Co-president Sharon Kilbride had been selected for the honor.
Park said, “Her contributions through the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness have been instrumental in providing local unhoused people with the resources they need.”
In accepting the award, Browning said it was important for City Council to recognize PPTFH’s work because the nonprofit is unique in Los Angeles.
“Our community stepped up to provide funding and person-power to address homelessness in our community in a way that meets the concerns of both our residents and our people experiencing homelessness.
“We have built trusting, collaborative relationships with our partner The People Concern, Los Angeles Police Department, LA Harbors, Beaches and Parks and our residents to address the destructive consequences of homelessness and provided a model which can be replicated in other communities,” Browning said.
“We understand that government can only do so much,” Browning said. “In my view, our collaborative model is very much the kind of community care-law enforcement model that Mayor Bass and others are envisioning but is yet to become a reality.”
Last month Kilbride had accepted the Pioneer Woman award at City Hall.
Councilmember Traci Park presented Sharon Kilbride (right) with the Pioneer Award.
Thanks for highlight these women and their efforts!
Thank you, Sue. You have been a powerful voice, and active volunteer participant, supporting the efforts of the PPTFH in the years since they officially partnered with The People Concern.
Recognition by the City for these PPTFH leaders should and can lead to some effective programs across the LA area. The glove is down, Traci Park!
There are so many opportunities for families and neighborhoods to learn how to stave off the problem of homelessness, as well as help those afflicted to heal. Thank you, Sharons! Your work demonstrates the meaning of brotherly love.
It is about time the City is showing recognition for the incredible group of volunteers who don’t just talk the talk. The changes they’ve made, through difficult personal contacts with the un-homed, are phenomenal. The whole Country should take note of this wonderful volunteer organization and what can be accomplished with transient and permanent neighbors while showing respect for all involved.