I WAS THERE: As Restaurant Workers Struggle, This Man Fields Their Calls

Since March the calls haven’t stopped for Manuel Villanueva, a community organizer with the Restaurant Opportunities Center. Thousands of cooks, waiters and dishwashers have struggled since then to survive since the shut down orders. In this episode of I WAS THERE, Villanueva recalls a particularly painful phone call and share how being on the receiving end of such calls is at times overwhelming.

About the Series

"I WAS THERE" is about telling a great story. This series of first-person accounts breaks current and historical events down to human scale, carefully taking the viewer behind some of Southern California’s biggest headlines.

Production team

Executive Producer: Karen Foshay 

Producers: Tori Edgar, Denise Chan & Michael Ray 

Photographers: Trevor Jackson, Karen Foshay

Editor/Graphics: Michael Ray, Andy Viner