New Youth Center Opens Saturday
The Bell Gardens Neighborhood Youth Center will open Saturday, with former gang members running programs to help entice the city’s 3,500 to 5,000 gang members to quit.
The center, at 5856 Ludell St., will offer several services, including counseling, weightlifting and field trips to the mountains and beach, said Sgt. Ruben Musquiz, who will oversee the center for the Bell Gardens Police Department.
A report-writing room for patrol officers is expected to open by the end of the year. Plans also call for a new gym and boxing program in one of four additional buildings on the site. The Police Department’s community services division, which Musquiz heads, will be based at the center. The division coordinates neighborhood watch programs, youth services and the DARE anti-drug program.
Three counselors from its youth services bureau will be available for group counseling; the counselors are based at Bell Gardens Intermediate School. The Police Department, which is spending $83,000 to operate the center for the first year, is planning several opening-day events, including a noon ribbon-cutting and a performance by Bell Gardens High School’s band.
Information: (310) 806-4570.
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