Around 500 people packed the First Southern Baptist Church in Gardena to oppose the sale of Keiro, an elder care facility in Los Angeles and Gardena that is operated by a nonprofit in the Japanese American community.

Keiro is a nonprofit care facility serving the Japanese American community, mainly supporting Japanese-language care.

The board of Keiro is selling the facility to Pacifica. This is NOT the radio station; it's a real estate developer that will operate the facility as a for-profit operation. The price is $40 million.

Keiro has tried to keep this sale SECRET!

* Information about the sale was announced at arts and crafts classes at the retirement home. They made little effort to inform the residents.

* When nonprofits are sold to for-profit companies, there is supposed to be a hearing. However, the Attorney General can waive that hearing. Keiro's board requested the waiver, and got it. Thus THERE WAS NO PUBLIC HEARING ABOUT THIS SALE.

* There are different facilities, including a retirement home and a nursing home. The retirement home is solvent, but the nursing home is 70% people on Medi-Cal and Medicare. These residents are at risk of being thrown out.

* The price was based on a 2-year old appraisal. The Boyle Heights facility is within a rapidly gentrifying area, so that price may be much lower than it's present market value.

Mo Nishida started a movement against the sale. It has grown to hundreds, perhaps thousands of community people. The petition opposing the sale has over 9,000 signatures.

This is a fight not only for this facility, but to protect the idea of nonprofit elder care, and in a broader sense, against treating dying, elderly people as a profit center. Community people who rely on nonprofits are affected by boards that want to cash-out of a nonprofit.

This now has the support of local politicians, most notably Maxine Waters and Judy Chu, who are aligning themselves against Attorney General Kamala Harris.

There is a push for a lawsuit to oppose this sale. Even if the sale goes through, there will be an effort to get the assets to make the residents there whole, to have a home until they pass away, perhaps even as far as twenty years into the future. Making a new facility has also been raised; there is sufficient money if the facility is sold.

Meetings of the Ad-Hoc Committee to Save Keiro are Saturday at 1PM, 333 San Pedro, just south of Little Tokyo.

http://savekeiro.org/event/community-speak-out/?instance_id=43

The Ad Hoc Committee to SAVE KEIRO presents a community “speak out” about:
Views and Voices from the Community:
Selling the Keiro Facilities to Pacifica

The Ad Hoc Committee, 17,253 petitioners, 16 members of Congress, and one Assemblyman appealed to Keiro and Kamala D. Harris’ Office of the CA Attorney General to hold the public meetings that were denied us but Keiro and the AG have responded only with SILENCE.

At this public meeting you will hear what you should have heard had Keiro been more transparent about this sale to Pacifica.

Community Speak Out 1-23-16 Views and Voices from the Community - FINAL with Color-72dpiTo break the silence, the Ad Hoc Committee to SAVE KEIRO is hosting this “speak out” for the people; to let Keiro and the CA Attorney General know how we feel.
This event is for residents, patients, families, physicians, nurses, caregivers, workers, donors, volunteers and the concerned community to speak out, to contribute to the public record by making your written and recorded opinions known.

“If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity.” ― Albert Einstein. Keiro CEO Shawn Miyake, Keiro Board members, elected officials who support the Ad Hoc Committee to Save Keiro and the CA Attorney General are invited to attend.

Coverage at KPCC:

http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/01/15/56862/u-s-reps-waters-chu-fight-to-stop-keiro-sale/?slide=1

Extended story from December on KCET:

http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/columns/la-letters/boyle-heights-last-japanese-retirement-home.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=departures

Old Rafu story:

http://www.rafu.com/2015/10/community-demands-meeting-with-keiro-board/

Seeing as how you are NOT reaching into your own pockets and taking action, protesting is just going to make you look chump.

Keep up the shoddy work and deal with the fact that you could have actually lifted a finger

Yes, I don't much like you preachy shadow people pushing your preachy nothingness.