MLK Health & Wellness Community Development Corporation

The primary focus of the MLK Health and Wellness Community Development Corporation ("MLK-CDC") is revitalization of the MLK Medical Campus located in South Los Angeles in the Watts/Willowbrook neighborhood.  Los Angeles County owns 42 acres on the campus; it is the new site of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, the adjacent, now abandoned, former King-Drew/MACC hospital building and a number of other underutilized structures. Working with the County Board of Supervisors, the MLK-CDC aims to transform the site into an "urban family-health campus." The former hospital is being transformed into a state-of-the-art 500,000 square foot MLK Behavioral Health Center. It will be a national model for community based comprehensive programs that address the interrelated and complex needs of those struggling with access to care for mental illness and substance use disorders and homelessness.

The center will deliver cutting-edge treatment, rehabilitative, vocational and training opportunities intended to provide the skills needed to reintegrate into the community. In early 2021, the MLK Pediatric HUB Clinic serving 4,000 children and teens in foster care will move into the first floor of the new three-story, 55,000 square foot building named the MLK Child and Family Well-being Center (located adjacent to the three trailers that currently house the clinic). The First-of-its-Kind Center located in South LA will provide enhanced outpatient clinical services for at-risk pediatric and adolescent patients and their families. The second floor will house an Autism Wellness Center; and the third floor will house a Family Justice Center that will provide supportive services to those affected by domestic violence.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jacqueline Avant, a stalwart supporter of children and the Watts-Willowbrook community. In lieu of flowers, the family wishes to have donations made in her honor to the Jacqueline Avant Memorial Fund for the new MLK Children’s Center.

Thank you for your kind contribution.