Steve Clare: Venice Community Housing Corporation

In 1968 Steve Clare moved to Venice with his wife and daughter, staking ground in L.A.'s counterculture hub. Clare, witnessed the accommodation shortages and lack of social services provided to the working-class community of color in Venice and decided to do something about it. Working as a housing attorney, he funded and led the Venice Community Housing Corporation (VCHC), which today includes a holistic ecology of community services that range from housing and job training programs to youth development and management. Under his direction, the VCHC remains a bastion for Venice's poor and disenfranchised.

Rising Property Values
"If there's no low-income housing in Venice, the diversity of the community is going to be lost. That's what makes Venice a pretty special neighborhood in Los Angeles."

Gang Phenomenon
"They were sharing the same neighborhood - and they knew one another."