Tenants Lead Effort at Bryant-Vanalden : Carla and Jose Luis Perez

For years, Carla Perez has been the Bryant Street block mother. Her phone number is the one working mothers put on school emergency contact lists. Her apartment is the one children play in after school. She has organized folkorico dances for Cinco de Mayo and Las Posadas during the Christmas season. The dances are the Latino tradition of re-creating Mary’s and Joseph’s search for a room.

That’s why tenant organizers who came one month ago to the Bryant-Vanalden neighborhood were directed by residents to the apartment of Carla and Jose Luis Perez. Carla, 36, is now co-chairwoman of Padres Unidos and her husband Jose Luis, 28, is also part of the committee.

Jose Luis said he earns $296 a week at a North Hollywood machine shop. He, Carla and their five children live in a $450-a- month, three-bedroom apartment.

“Yes, we are poor people,” Jose Luis said. “But I work 40 hours a week and do the best I can for my family. All my children were born here and they have the right to speak up. Maybe this committee will let them see those rights.”

Carla said she has taken seriously her position on the committee.

“The role of the woman on this committee is very important because we know how hard it will be to move,” she said. “Who better knows the problems of her family and her children than the mother? We know that our husband’s work will be harder if he has to travel far to work. We know that our children will be afraid of a new school; they will miss their friends.

“The women on this committee are defending their children.”