October 04-2013
The Pars Equality Center opened its first Los Angeles area office Friday to bring services to the Iranian community in the region.
Founded in the San Francisco Bay area in 2010, with offices in Menlo Park and San Jose, PEC provides social and legal support and services for the Iranian-American community.
The event marks the opening of PEC’s third location in three years, and is the first Southern California office. A formal ribbon cutting ceremony was held Friday in the Courtyard at 1434 Westwood Boulevard.
Bita Daryabari, PEC founder and executive director, said, “Los Angeles has over half a million Iranian residents. Every year, the LA area is being hit by more than 1,000 new Iranian immigrants. And, now, we are here to help them settle, go to ESL classes, learn the culture, find jobs, and more. I wish that there had been a Pars Equality Center when I first came to the United States from Iran as a teenager [in 1985]. It was a challenging transition.”
Daryabari said, “Over the years, and especially since 9/11, the climate in the US has gotten more challenging for Iranian-Americans and Iranian immigrants, and this is why I founded the Pars Equality Center. There is so much misperception in this country about the Persian culture. Firstly, Iranians were not responsible for 9/11, and secondly, the refugees coming here are doing so due to sanction regulations and the economic situation in Iran.”
PEC is known for holding community-wide events, such as job fairs, as well as partnering with local and national community organizations. It has also been expanding its reach to the most vulnerable in its community: Iranians who have recently arrived in the US with few or no financial resources and need support in order to establish themselves in the country.
According to PEC, a newly established casework system served over 160 newcomer Iranians and their families in the first year alone. In 2012, PEC hosted three Job Fairs that connected more than 200 job seekers with 38 Iranian or American employers, leading to 45 successful job placements, despite the difficult economy.
