The Recreation and Human Services Department is responsible for providing a broad array of recreation, social and community services to a diverse community of individuals, families, and organizations.
Department Administration
Administration is responsible for the efficient management of daily operations, including personnel and programming and addressing the immediate and long range recreational and human services needs of the community.
Department Commissions
Department Commissions include: Senior Citizens, Human Services, Recreation and Parks and Youth Commissions. All are comprised of one appointee by each Councilmember and the Mayor; additionally, the Youth Commission has five members appointed at large by the appointed members. All Commissioners serve in an advisory capacity to the department.
The Recreation Division is responsible for the creation, development, implementation and administration of recreational, social and community service programs and activities. These are categorized into distinct service areas: adult sports, aquatics, children’s day care, City-wide special events, contract classes, developmentally disabled programs, facility reservations, Nakaoka Community Center programming, park and after school programs, youth sports, individual and group counseling services, and at-risk programs.
Aquatics
The Community Aquatics & Senior Center is under construction. Click here to view the project.
Recreation Activities
Recreation activities include youth and adult sports, special events, instructional classes, developmentally disabled programming, golf tournaments, excursions, the Saturday program, extended day care and after school programs. These programs are designed to be relatively self-supporting through participant fees.
Leisure Services
Leisure services includes operations support in the programming of recreational facilities, including after-school care, seasonal programs, and general recreational activities.
The Human Services Division includes the Youth and Family Services Bureau, Family Child Care, and the Senior Citizens Bureau – (See Special Funds Section).
PUBLIC SERVICE GOAL
To provide high quality, low cost recreation, leisure, and human services programs that meet the changing needs and interest of a diverse and growing community.
Stephany Santin
Director of Recreation and Human Services
Stephany has worked for the City of Gardena since February 2010. Before being appointed Recreation and Human Services Director in October 2019, she worked in several departments, including Elected and Administrative Offices, Community Development, Transportation, and Police.
She oversees the City of Gardena’s Recreation, Human Services, Senior, and Custodial divisions. She administers programs and operations of city parks, recreation, community centers, recreation programming (including youth and adult sports), and community services in a diverse and multicultural community. She has partnered with several organizations in the City to enhance services to our community that focus on leadership and character development for our youth. Her department hosts over 100 community events each year. The last few years have been very busy with several large projects, including implementing the City’s first Homeless Strategic Plan, and City’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
She has a Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies from the University of California – Los Angeles, and also received her Master’s in Business Administration from Western Governors University. She lives and is actively engaged in the South Bay area and is a member of the Gardena Kiwanis and the Gardena Elks 1919.