3 Who Prevailed With Courage and Persistence : <i> The Orange County Human Relations Commission will honor 18 county residents tonight for their outstanding contributions to the community during the organization’s 20th Anniversary Awards Banquet. Here is a look at three winners:</i>

Having put three children through Orange County public schools, Patricia Padilla is conversant with the language barrier’s impact on parents whose children speak more Spanish than English.

Four years ago when Rudy, her fourth and youngest child, was about to enter the Head Start Program at Maple Community Center in Fullerton, Padilla went to class with him to act as his personal tutor.

Her initial effort on behalf of her son quickly turned into a full-time position with the Fullerton School District, where she has worked in varied capacities, from bilingual teacher’s aide to liaison between the school district and the city’s Latino community.

“I would attend class with (Rudy) once a week and stay there so I could help my child and other students and parents who were having trouble communicating,” said Padilla, 38, of Fullerton. “After a while, once a week turned into three times a week and then every day.”

Padilla said her services were badly needed because Spanish-speaking parents with schoolchildren constantly bombarded her with questions about the education system. She recalled the frustration of one young Latino mother who did not fully understand why her son had been expelled from school.

“She really wasn’t sure what to do or where to turn,” Padilla said.

Although she had worked for almost 10 years in a leather-goods factory, Rudy’s teacher eventually persuaded Padilla to apply for a teacher’s aide position in the Fullerton schools.

“I took a few courses in child development just because I love kids,” Padilla said. “It never occured to me that I might actually use it in a professional setting.”

Padilla said that while serving as an aide for two years, she not only assisted teachers with routine classroom tasks but also helped Latino parents understand their children’s homework and explained school registration procedures.

“That’s probably one of the biggest disadvantages with the language barrier,” Padilla said. “The basic school information--particularly immunization requirements--are really not always clearly understood by the community and that can cause problems.”

Padilla now works as a bilingual clerk at Acacia Elementary School in Fullerton. She participates in PTAs at the three schools her children attend and is a volunteer in the Fullerton Library’s Partnership for Change, a program that encourages Latino families to use the library.

“What I do and the many programs I am involved with are so vital to the community,” she said. “The Partnership for Change program actually explains in Spanish earthquake preparedness. Something that important is quite necessary for the community.”

Padilla said if she had a wish list it would include more teacher’s aides, smaller classes and more respect for education.

“Teachers have always been my heroes, because they have such an important job,” she said. “They should be treated accordingly.”

RALPH RODRIGUEZ

Striking Back at Gang

Ralph Rodriguez said he has always known the difference between right and wrong, but until two years ago, never thought he would have to pay a price for it.

In September, 1989, after a gang-related drive-by shooting killed a 4-year-old cousin and another victim, Rodriguez decided to speak out about his Garden Grove neighborhood that is home to the 5th Street gang.

He encouraged witnesses to tell police what they saw on the day of the shooting and, along with his son, testified about gang activity around his home, despite the constant threat of gang retaliation.

Eventually, all four people accused in the shootings were convicted, and Rodriguez’s story of courage and determination took up a full page in Time magazine.

Today--despite the media attention, the talk of a possible TV movie and the satisfaction of putting what he called the “bad guys” behind bars--Rodriguez, 32, said he often wonders whether the price has been too high for him and his family.

“If I had to do it again, I would have to think very seriously about it,” Rodriguez said firmly. “I didn’t the first time. I had no idea what I was getting into when I went to the police. I didn’t know what I’d be facing.”

After Rodriguez began cooperating with police, his oldest daughter was grazed by a bullet while reclining on the family’s living room floor, and Rodriguez himself was stabbed with a pocketknife by a 5th Street gang sympathizer outside his home.

“It’s been pretty rough, and there is always a constant threat looming over our heads about what’s going to happen next,” he said.

Although the Rodriguez family is constantly on the lookout for trouble from gang members, they still live in the same home, which is in the heart of 5th Street gang turf. They say they have no choice.

“The D.A.’s office offered to help us move into an apartment, but how can I move from a house I own into an apartment?” Rodriguez said. “They say just walk away, but the same guys who are saying that are going home to lavish houses in Mission Viejo afterward.”

Rodriguez is relieved that his four children, ages 3 to 14, still agree that his decision to speak up was best.

“We always discuss what’s happening in the family, and they seemed very pleased at the way I handled things,” Rodriguez said. “And while they understand the dangers of what I did and where we are, they don’t want to move or go anywhere else.”

While Rodriguez described the last three years of his life as a “bad roller coaster ride,” he pondered whether others will be moved to do what he did if faced with the same situation.

One night, he said, he dreamed that he saw his youngest child shot in an alley where they were walking together.

“I ran around asking everyone for help and everyone closed their doors or turned their backs,” Rodriguez said. “And I thought this is the way it really is and, after everything I’ve been through, I see why.”

NADIA SAAD BETTENDORF

Arab-American Leader’s Fears

During the Gulf War, Nadia Saad Bettendorf, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Orange County, had her hands unusually full with the worries of her family and Arab-Americans who had relatives in the Middle East.

“It was a particularly trying time for all us, especially those in the group,” Bettendorf said. “Everybody needed each other to help them deal with what was happening. It’s so hard not knowing how loved ones are doing.”

Since moving to the United States from Israel, Bettendorf has dedicated most of her free time to promoting a better understanding of the Arab community and fighting negative stereotypes attached to Arabs by the West.

“Many Americans still have that image of the black-robed, money-hungry sheiks who are trying to take over the economy in the Western world,” Bettendorf said. “Others feel that all Arabs are terrorists who are void of human emotions.”

Bettendorf, 50, came to the United States in 1967 after winning a scholarship to study French at the University of Minnesota. After completing her undergraduate studies, she earned her master’s degree in French from the university.

In 1979, Bettendorf moved with her husband and two sons to California and quickly became involved with the anti-discrimination committee and its agenda of lectures, workshops and community meetings to promote understanding of the Arab culture.

“That is our main purpose, and there is no better way to do it than through education,” said Bettendorf, who teaches French at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs. “We regularly meet with the media, police chiefs and even television officials to try to ensure the images conveyed are accurate.”

About 10,000 Arab-Americans live in Orange County, and 250,000 in Southern California. About 500 people are members of the local chapter of the national American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Bettendorf, who lives in La Habra, said that during the Gulf War, reported crimes against Arab-Americans in the county increased by up to 50%. There were complaints of graffiti, vandalism, harassment and threats.

She recalled that a few weeks ago in Orange, an Arab woman who was wearing her traditional veil was heckled by women.

“They told her to go back where she came and that she didn’t belong,” Bettendorf said. “Such incidents were only magnified during the war. They happen all the time, people just don’t complain. And it will continue. Whether the public knows about it or not, we will.”

OTHER HUMAN RELATIONS HONOREES

Here are the 15 others being honored by the Orange County Human Relations Commission:

* Sonia Adelman, chairwoman of the commission’s education committee, who was instrumental in forming the San Juan Community Task Force to address school-based community concerns.

* Fran Andrade, who launched a free breakfast program for low-income children in Huntington Beach.

* Rolando Castillo, a psychologist who worked to increase access to health and mental health services for refugees from Central America.

* Edmond M. Connor, a lawyer who organized a major pro bono effort to defend homeless people who were arrested in police sweeps through the Santa Ana Civic Center area.

* John Duran, a lawyer, for work to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.

* John Furman, director of St. Jude Hospital and Rehabilitation Center’s Care of the Poor Program, for her commitment to health care as a basic right.

* Fernando Gallo, a volunteer, for his commitment to immigrants whose rights have been violated by unscrupulous employers.

* Alice Graves, for efforts on behalf of the disadvantaged in Laguna Beach.

* Dick Hain, founder of the Sister City Program, for working to build better relations between the people of Korea and Garden Grove.

* Frank Hauptmann, a Garden Grove police sergeant, for his efforts to organize the Asian Services Unit in the Police Department to foster trust with the Vietnamese and Korean communities.

* Connie Jene Jones, executive director of the Southwest Community Center in Santa Ana, for feeding the poor and hungry.

* Dr. Bruce Mutter, a volunteer physician at the Orange County Center for Health, for his work caring for low-income Latino clients.

* The Rev. Paul J. Park, for providing food and clothing to the poor and hungry.

* Ramon Quintanilla, a Salvadoran refugee, for his work with the Orange County Coalition for Immigrant Rights and Responsibilities, educating immigrants and refugees about the options available to them.

* Dr. Clarence Spence, for devoting half of his medical practice to taking care of homeless people.