San Fernando Valley

OUT OF MONEY: In a rare move, officials from the San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley region of the United Way have stopped providing funding to the Home Visitation Center, a nonprofit outreach agency that has provided food and clothing to some of Pacoima’s poorest residents since 1979.

Last month, a United Way volunteer committee charged with reviewing the center’s status ruled that the Home Visitation Center did not comply with administrative, management and oversight criteria required by United Way.

The center, located on Van Nuys Boulevard, received about $36,000 of its total budget of approximately $60,000 last year from United Way.

Despite the loss of more than half of its total annual budget, the agency is still providing food, clothing and other services to approximately 800 poor Pacoima residents each week, Robin Baxter, president of the center’s board of directors, said. But, Baxter added, “We’re down to zero in our bank account.”

Baxter admitted that the center failed to provide timely and complete information in response to United Way requests, but explained that during the review, the center experienced personnel problems.