Second Chances : Literacy: Urban League volunteer program enlists the middle class to help inner-city people read and develop job skills.

On Wednesday evenings, Cmdr. Ronald C. Banks of the Los Angeles Police Department takes a break from the rigors of fighting crime to do battle with another intractable foe--illiteracy.

The 51-year-old commander of the department’s SWAT teams, helicopter patrols and disaster relief units is one of about 30 tutors who teach reading, writing and mathematics at the Los Angeles Urban League’s Milken Family Literacy Center in the Crenshaw area.

“It is a way to give something back to the community,” said Banks, who specializes in teaching reading to adults. “Most days I feel like I get as big a sense of accomplishment out of it as the people I come here to help.”

Since the center opened in February, more than 120 children and adults have walked through its doors seeking help with schoolwork and basic skills for the job market.

Tutors for the program include retired teachers, real estate salesmen and police officers. Many come from the affluent and working-class communities surrounding the Crenshaw area. Most of the students come from Southwest and South-Central Los Angeles.

John Mack, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Urban League, said the center is trying to bridge two segments of the African-American community by encouraging middle-class blacks to help those who are less fortunate.

“We want to explode the myth that the black middle class is too busy escaping to help some of their less fortunate brothers and sisters,” Mack said.

The Urban League received a $750,000 grant from the Milken Family Foundation to purchase and remodel the center’s headquarters at 54th Street and Crenshaw Boulevard.

The program has received financial support from the Southern California Gas Co., Lockheed and Xerox. AT & T contributed 15 computers, and members of its black and Latino employee associations have volunteered as tutors.

Linda Williams, the center’s manager, said its resources are stretched to the limit, and there is a long list of would-be students waiting to get in.

“We could expand if we had more volunteers,” she said recently. “But it is hard to find people willing to commit on a regular basis.”

The center holds a two-hour workshop each week to familiarize new volunteers with the program. Volunteers are asked to contribute a minimum of two hours a week in tutoring.

The program has conducted a major drive for volunteers in recent months by contacting churches and employee associations.

“We especially need African-American men to volunteer (to help) the elementary school children,” she said. “Some of these children don’t have male role models at home. They see men come in here with suits and ties on, and they are in awe, like its something they only see on TV.”

Emmanuel Bediako, program coordinator for the center, said it “has gone a long way toward helping children to build their self-confidence while they strengthen their academic skills.”

Bediako, who holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, abandoned his career as an engineer to pursue teaching. “I decided I wanted to go into education and do something to help those children who are underachievers,” he said.

One of four full-time staff members at the center, Bediako said each student is given an individual assessment and a custom-tailored program to improve his weak subjects.

“So far we have had a lot of success,” he said. “We ran a class for students taking the SATs, and we tested them, and their grades improved dramatically, more than 130 points.”

In addition to basic reading and mathematics, the center offers training in clerical skills: typing, bookkeeping, computer operations and word processing.

Kahahlia Hoyle, 12, says she has seen improvement in her work since starting at the center. “They have really helped me in my multiplication and division,” she said.

Crispin Lazarit, a 16-year-old honor student at Crenshaw High School, finds joy in helping others. “I know I’m doing something good,” he said. “I live nearby and I feel I’m helping people.”

For Ralph Lee, 37, a clerk at a liquor store in the South-Central area, just admitting his problem was a major accomplishment.

Throughout much of his adult life, Lee, a graduate of Fremont High School, hid the fact that he did not know how to read. “I realized the only person I was hurting was myself,” he said. “There are a lot of people in the United States who have this problem, I’m not the only one.

“But at least I’m doing something about it.”

Lee has gone to the center for tutoring once a week since it opened. Now he can read, albeit very slowly, stumbling through each passage, using his finger to mark his place. “I have made a lot of progress,” he said.

Banks, who was Lee’s tutor last week, said he “admires the courage it takes to admit that you have this disability and to do something about it.”

In the weeks he has come to the center, Banks said, he has seen Lee and others grow in confidence. “There have been many breakthroughs and many minor victories,” he said. “I feel like I’m accomplishing something that’s real, away from the other pressures in my life.”

Banks said students at the center don’t blame others for their past failures, although there is plenty of blame to go around.

During one long reading session, Banks said, he asked a student if he wanted to take a break. “He told me, ‘No, that was my problem in school. I took too many breaks.’ ”

Those who want to volunteer can call (213) 292-82111. The center is located at 5414 S. Crenshaw Blvd.