SANTA ANA : Mentor Program Seeks New Funding

When Maria Aguilar, 18, was growing up, she never thought she would go to college. Now she can’t imagine a future without it.

Aguilar, a senior at Santa Ana High School who aspires to be a registered nurse, credits a special program for at-risk students at Rancho Santiago Community College for helping her envision and realize a richer and more fulfilling future.

“I didn’t think I could (go to college and become a nurse) because I’m a minority. But they said ‘You can do anything you want, you just have to put your mind to it,’ ” she said of the program, called Career Beginnings, and its mentor counseling system.

Now, though Career Beginnings boasts successes in motivating students to go to college and move on to good jobs, severe budget constraints have forced the district to cut the program, which costs about $175,000 annually.

Aguilar and the rest of this year’s 75 participants will be the last unless other funding can be found, said program coordinator Cindy Sorensen.

“We’re deeply saddened. There’s no price tag you can put on changing someone’s life,” she said. “For students who are motivated but lack direction, who get lost and don’t fulfill their potential, that’s what I see as a loss for all of us.”

Since the program began in 1986, several hundred students have been matched with individual mentors from the working world. The mentors involve students in activities aimed at helping them graduate, find a good entry-level job or gain access to a college education, Sorensen said.

Mentors also provide the students with constant encouragement. As a result, almost all of the previous participants completed the 18-month program and more than 75% went directly to college. The rest began full-time work, military or technical training, she said.

Aguilar, for example, plans to attend Cal State Fullerton, and said recently that without the help of the program, “I probably wouldn’t care. I wouldn’t be informed about all the colleges.”

Several mentors and advisory committee members, mostly business professionals, said they hope to find private funding for the program.

“Look at Santa Ana--what are the biggest problems? There’s a literacy problem, a crime problem, and social dependency problems. A program like this is absolutely designed to solve those problems,” said Jim Hughes, who is president of Irvine-based TH&M; Advertising and sits on the program’s advisory committee.

“It doesn’t cost much to solve the problems for the future. It can be done so easily. We’ve got to take responsibility,” he said.