Flora Chavez, RIP
When Flora Chavez died last month at age 85, she
had been a force in Venice for decades. As the leader of the Community Service
Organization (CSO), she fought for the rights of poor people and Latinos
throughout Venice.
For years, her home on California Avenue proudly
displayed a large roof-top sign for CSO. The California community organization
might have been better known statewide for its famous alumni, Cesar Chavez (no
relation), who went on to found the United Farm Workers union, but in Venice,
Flora Chavez was the CSO.
She
maintained a credit union for years. It provided low-cost loans, and
didn’t charge expensive bank fees to hundreds of people who couldn’t
afford them. Chavez finally had to close the credit union a couple of years ago.
Let’s hope someone will follow in her footsteps and reestablish a Venice
credit union.
Like Vera Davis, Flora
Chavez was an unselfish leader and protector of low-income Venetians struggling
to deal with everyday life. The memory of Vera Davis lives on in the community
center at 610 California Avenue that is named in her honor. Our community should
find a way to keep the memory of Flora Chavez alive as
well.
–Jim Smith
Posted: Wed - October 1, 2003 at 06:58 PM