LTSC’s Youth Leaders Internship (YLI) program empowers local youth to become strong, vocal, and active members of their community. We support our youth interns in becoming compassionate and confident leaders with the skills needed to succeed in adulthood. Interns mentor students from LTSC’s Mi CASA...
When the pandemic hit, Setsuko realized that she was disconnected from her community. Despite being a long-term resident in LTSC’s Casa Heiwa apartments (affordable housing in Little Tokyo), she barely knew her neighbors. As a renowned artist, she was typically busy traveling for shows and...
The decades-long dream of bringing community space to the Downtown LA neighborhood was finally realized when Budokan celebrated its Grand Opening in 2022. Located within one of only four remaining official Japantowns in the US, Budokan’s opening cemented LTSC’s vision of vibrant community engagement, with...
The end of an era and the start of a new beginning took place on the morning of April 18 as Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) broke ground on The Umeya: our latest affordable and permanent supportive housing development....
Back in February, LTSC hosted the second installment of Adopt-a-Block: a community outreach pop-up event, developed by the Skid Row Brigade, to engage with the Skid Row community ahead of LTSC's upcoming Umeya affordable and permanent supportive housing project. Learn more about this event and...
Hint: it's not just about basketball. On March 18, Terasaki Budokan, LTSC's sports facility and community center, hosted the San Tai San Basketball Tournament: a co-ed, all-ages event that brought together 68 teams and over 750 attendees from Little Tokyo and beyond. Find out the...
This year was my first time participating in The Homeless Count, an annual multi-day, volunteer event organized by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to count the number of unhoused individuals throughout LA County. Find out how the Count changed my perspective of LA...
This year, LTSC worked with Setsuko Hayashi-san, a long-term Casa Heiwa resident in Little Tokyo, to design a Nengajō (New Year's card). She used two traditional textile techniques to design the card: beeswax-dyeing, in which wax from bees is melted and used, and Katazome, in...
2022 marked twenty years since the passing of Judy Nishimoto Ota, a trailblazer at Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) who helped shape the organization into the esteemed affordable housing developer it is today. “Have you ever imagined riding on the back of a wild bull?...
This November marked the one year anniversary of Little Tokyo Flea Market (LTFM), a vintage clothing swap held on the first Saturday each month at Terasaki Budokan’s outdoor plaza. Since the market’s launch, Tatsu, LTFM’s organizer, has helped foster significant growth for the event through...
