Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services—one of the nation’s largest, most comprehensive care facilities for children and adolescents experiencing social, behavioral, emotional, or developmental challenges—recently broke ground for a new education center on the campus of its special education Vista School. The Educational Services Center is being made possible through the generosity of Beverlywood residents Al and Hedi Azus who donated $1.3 million toward construction of the new building that will bear their name. At the same time, the couple additionally established a $500,000 Vista Del Mar children’s fund.
Speaking before friends and supporters of the more-than-a-century-old agency, Vista Del Mar’s Board Chairman Carol Katzman applauded Al and Hedi Azus for their “generosity, loyalty, and longtime support of Vista Del Mar. Like so many of us,” she added, “you have always placed a priority on education, and we have every reason to believe that Vista can become the best private, special-education school in California. Your gift provides a facility for children with special needs to learn and thrive, enabling them to leave Vista with the capacity and desire to succeed in the world.”
Al and Hedi Azus have a history of supporting Vista Del Mar. For example, in 1998, the pair donated $1 million to build a new headquarters for Vista’s Home-SAFE agency. Al Azus, who is president and founder of Alna Envelope Company in Los Angeles, has served on Vista’s Board of Directors for more than 25 years. His longtime affiliation with Vista Del Mar actually is rooted in personal hardship. Specifically, as a young father struggling to stay afloat financially, Al Azus brought his two children to Vista, where they were placed in foster care while he searched tirelessly for employment.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, Katzman additionally acknowledged “the remarkable work of our building committee, led by Lyn Konheim and Phil Stein, and including Bruce Kates and Irv Cooper.” Katzman concluded by commending Vista Del Mar’s President and CEO Elias Lefferman, Ph.D. “Leadership of a great agency begins at the top, and your dreams for our Vista School expansion and renovation have been a guiding force for all of us.”
About Vista Del Mar:
Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services was established in 1908 and, over the course of more than a century, has evolved from a Jewish orphanage to a union of five specialized agencies working together to provide comprehensive, therapeutic, as well as educational programs and services for children and their families on a picturesque, 18-acre campus in West Los Angeles. These agencies include: Vista Del Mar; Julia Ann Singer Center; Reiss Davis Child Study Center; Home-SAFE (located in Hollywood); and Family Service of Santa Monica (located in Santa Monica). Between the nonprofit’s residential, outpatient, community-based, and education services, Vista Del Mar provides 45 programs to nearly 6,000 children and families annually. Services provided by the agency include, but are not limited to: therapeutic, residential treatment for severely emotionally disturbed youth; private-adoption services for both domestic and international adoptions; community-based foster care; a network of mental-health and case- management services for children at risk of out-of-home placement; a private, special-needs school (K-12); mental-health services to students in schools throughout Los Angeles; therapeutic school and intervention services for children with autism; individual and group counseling for children and families; educational assessments and treatment; child-abuse-prevention services; and early childhood care and provider training.
For additional information, visit http://www.vistadelmar.org
