Many of the children who visit the St. John’s Well Child and Family Center at 58th and Hoover in South Los Angeles are anything but well.
The dentists treat children who suffer excruciating pain from swollen gums and rotting teeth.
The doctors routinely see chronic preventable diseases common in third-world countries, and developmental delays are standard. Dr. David Bolour said he sees children daily who suffer from trauma they’ve experienced in their high-crime neighborhoods or in the places they fled, particularly Central American countries torn by violence.
“I had a 6-year-old who witnessed his grandfather’s hands being chopped off right in front of his eyes,” said Bolour, who seemed a bit traumatized himself after three years of working with children haunted and damaged by things that are a routine part of their lives.
California, home to the world’s fifth-largest economy, has the dubious paradoxical distinction of unmatched wealth and nation-leading poverty rates. In one of the most recent studies, the California Budget & Policy Center reported that more than 20% of the state’s children live in families who can’t afford basic necessities, thanks in part to the state’s housing crisis and high cost of living.
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