Diverse Service : Achievement: Eighteen individuals and one family will be honored by the Orange County Human Relations Commission for their work in the community.

When Rose Hernandez Espinoza left the working-class La Habra neighborhood 11 years ago where she had spent her life, she dreamed about returning someday to help.

She fulfilled her wish in 1990, when she returned to the old neighborhood with her husband and child, and began offering a free tutoring service in her garage for local children.

“After talking with a lot of my neighbors, I realized that a lot of them weren’t helping their kids with their homework,” she said. “And it wasn’t because they didn’t want to. Most of them weren’t proficient in English.”

This week, the Orange County Human Relations Commission recognized Espinoza’s efforts by naming her among 18 people and one family who will receive the commission’s annual awards for community service.

“We look for people who have made outstanding efforts at bringing together diverse residents of the community and overcoming intergroup conflict,” said Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the commission.

“I knew I had to come back and do something in this neighborhood,” said Espinoza, 40, a drafter. She and a group of volunteers help 23 children in grades K-8 with their homework.

“So many people say or see the negative things about the community--the gangs, shootings,” she said. “And I wanted to show good things. I want to show that there’s potential in this neighborhood if we just put in the energy.”

Despite her full-time job and pursuit of a degree in architectural landscaping, Espinoza also conducts field trips and athletics programs for the neighborhood youth.

“We had some gang kids here, and they checked me out,” she said. “But we’re not here to scare them. We want to stimulate them. We don’t want to have them just sitting around, idling away and wasting their time.”

The hope for the children lies with their parents, she said.

“I want parents to interact more with their children,” she said. “Keep an eye on them and don’t just sit at home and watch television. You have one chance with your child to convince them that they are as good as gold to you.”

Another award recipient is Theresa Sherrin, who also knows something about giving back to the community.

When the last of their six children moved out a decade ago, Theresa and Don Sherrin wondered what they would do with their large Los Alamitos home.

It didn’t take them long to figure out.

While involved with charity work for their church, the couple discovered that there were very few shelters for homeless, pregnant women.

Over the next several years, they offered their home to more than 40 pregnant women who had nowhere else to go and provided them with medical care, counseling, child care training and just good advice.

In 1989, the couple established the Precious Life Center, an all-volunteer agency that provides shelter and care for pregnant women and their babies up to 2 months old.

“We try to help them with their education, in finding jobs, just whatever type of help they need,” said Theresa Sherrin. “Not all of the women are homeless; some of them are married but come from abusive homes. But they have a place to come while they sort out what to do next in their lives.”

Sherrin, 55, said she and her husband, 56, “were not well off when we were growing up, but we never had to do without. We just feel like we can share something with others.”

The others who will be honored by the commission:

* Denise Eastin of Placentia, a small-business owner who has been a founding leader behind the Homeless Intervention Shelter in Placentia, which provides housing to the homeless and helps them start over.

* Dr. Donald Hagan of Laguna Beach, a gay physician living with AIDS who has played a national and local leadership role in fighting the epidemic.

* Judith Jimenez of Orange, who began a breakfast program for students at Prospect Elementary School, and has worked to improve the opportunities for children with limited English-speaking skills.

* Sook Gi Kim and Hilda Sugarman of Fullerton, who have worked to bridge the gap between the growing number of Korean students and Caucasians at Sunny Hills High School.

* Peter Lipschultz of Seal Beach, a coordinator at the Dayle McIntosh Center for the Disabled, who has been a leader in the movement for disabled people to lead independent lives.

* Aaron Lovejoy of Santa Ana, chief financial officer for the Minority Business Council of Orange County, who has united different ethnic business communities.

* Young Dae Oh of Garden Grove, a restaurant owner who periodically has contributed a day’s earnings from his restaurant to organizations including the Korean Family Counseling Center, the Korean Elderly Assn. and the Korean Catholic Service Center.

* The family of the late Hector Perez of Garden Grove, who have honored him by continuing his tradition of volunteerism in the community.

* Lilia Powell of Santa Ana, the program director of a federally funded educational outreach program at Cal State Fullerton and chairwoman of the Hispanic Development Council for the United Way, who has worked on behalf of the rights of immigrants.

* Dhongchai (Bob) Pusavat of Huntington Beach, director of the county Housing and Redevelopment Agency, who has sought financial aid for low-income neighborhoods.

* Linda Schulein of Newport Beach, the president of Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter, who has worked to improve the lives of the homeless and underprivileged.

* Margie Fites Seigle of Tustin, executive director of Planned Parenthood for Orange and San Bernardino counties, who has worked to provide health care for poor women.

* Futi Semanu of Santa Ana, a corporal in the Santa Ana Police Department, who has worked to foster communication between law enforcement and the Asian/Pacific Islander community.

* Catalina Durazo-Senkbeil of San Juan Capistrano, founder of the San Juan School Tutoring Program, who has helped to organize a conference for Latino families at Saddleback College and has worked to improve education for migrant workers.

* Arlene Sontag of Anaheim, an advocate for women’s equality, who helped to establish a 40-bed women’s shelter for the South County YWCA and helped to raise more than $130,000 for people with AIDS through AIDS Walk Orange County.

* Sandi Weber of Newport Beach, a volunteer coordinator for the South County YWCA who has established clothing and meal programs for homeless women.

The commission’s 21st anniversary awards banquet will be held March 22 at the Costa Mesa Community Center. The event is to honor the award recipients, and tickets are available at the commission office.