500 Adult Volunteers to Help Youths Resist the Lure of Gang Life

The City of Los Angeles has received $2 million from the federal government for an anti-gang program that will pair as many as 500 adult volunteers with children living in five housing projects, Mayor Tom Bradley announced Monday.

The adults will act as “role models” for the youths, who must be between the ages of 8 and 14, Bradley said.

Under the program, the city also will contract with community organizations for after-school education, child care and sports activities.

“At last we are beginning to get the resources from the federal government,” Bradley said at a press conference. The grant is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

At Bradley’s side was “Sweet Alice” Harris, founder of Parents of Watts, who said, “We’re going to change things. Just give us a chance, that’s all we need.”

In addition to the volunteers, a number of city agencies will be involved in the program, which will be run by the city’s Community Development Department, according to Parker Anderson, the department’s general manager.

The adult volunteers will be recruited from the five housing project areas as well as the city at large, and will act as “mentors,” Anderson said. “It is our hope that we will get an overwhelming number of adults,” he said.

Adults may call the Community Development Department’s Youth at Risk Unit at 485-8252, to volunteer, he said.

The housing projects targeted for the two-year program are Mar Vista gardens, Ramona Gardens, San Fernando Gardens and Rancho San Pedro. They have the highest concentration of youths among the city’s housing projects and have serious gang and drug problems, Anderson said.