Baldwin Park Expansion

Hillsides is a multi-service organization offering care for children, youth, and their families from Hollywood Hills to beyond Baldwin Park in San Gabriel Valley. The majority of services we offer are in schools, community settings, and resource centers in metro Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Baldwin Park.

Until now a small portable building at a school site in Baldwin Park served as the hub of our services in that city. Over the years, this office and treatment space has become inadequate so we have secured a new site, located at 13001 Ramona Blvd., Ste A, Irwindale, CA 91760.  Services have already begun. This is a significant development for Hillsides and one that points to not only the demand for services in that community, but our reputation for being a provider the community can count on to deliver essential care to very vulnerable children, youth, and families.

Janis Reid, one of our Family Center program directors overseeing this particular area, identifies the following services offered in Baldwin Park:

•  Cal Works, which includes job readiness and domestic violence groups as well as individual treatment
•  School Based Programs, offering individual, group, and family therapy groups
•  Programs for infants to 5 year olds, providing services with caregivers and children
•  Outpatient mental health services for children and families
•  Parenting groups
•  Psychiatric consultation
•  Psychological  testing

The additional space will also allow the Family Center to expand its services in Baldwin Park to include outreach to transition aged youth.

All this is the result of several years of slowly, but methodically developing our service capacity and faithfully delivering care to an underserved and vulnerable population. For many years the director of these services was a very capable woman, Rosario Espinoza, who passed away from cancer last year. Those who benefitted from her care and those who labored along with her established a beautiful memorial to her that is on the Hillsides campus in Pasadena. The memorial, composed of two chairs and a side table, is adorned with a series of tiles that depict staff’s appreciation for her dedicated service.

This week as we prepare to open the center in Baldwin Park I could not help, but think of Rosario, grateful for her dedication and leadership. As hopeful as we are for all that we might be able to accomplish in Baldwin Park, I know that it is not because we have a better equipped site in which to offer services, but more importantly, because we have an extraordinarily committed staff, who like Rosario, labor tirelessly to create lasting change for all they serve.