Jobs Program Workers Found Confidence Grew in the Forest

The chill winter air at the Rose Bowl picnic grounds was warm with good cheer as more than 500 people gathered to bid farewell to one another and to Opportunity L.A., the U.S. Forest Service-sponsored jobs program that employed them for the last five months.

Over the pulsing rhythms of rap music and the plaintive wail of a blues harmonica, some of the participants discussed their futures last Thursday.

For Frank Almaguer, 37, of Long Beach, the future looks bright. Buoyed by a $750 educational grant from Opportunity L.A. and the promise of a seasonal job in the spring, the parolee (he declined to elaborate) is returning to school to earn his commercial driver’s license.

Almaguer, who spent his time with Opportunity L.A. as a firefighter, praised the Forest Service for helping him open a door to the future.

“Six months ago, my family and I were on welfare,” he said. “I was looking for work, but no one would hire me because I was a parolee.

“The Forest Service was willing to give me a chance and it’s really meant a lot. This job has made me feel good about myself again and has helped me to pull my life together. I’m sorry to see it end.”

Reginald Stoner, 41, of Pasadena, also found something more than he expected: a wife.

Struggling to make ends meet as a commercial painter, Stoner met his wife-to-be at an orientation session for Opportunity L.A. employees. They married three months later.

Stoner said he hopes to return to school to be certified as a drug and alcohol counselor.

“I painted the whole forest,” he said jokingly of his stint in the federal program.

In a more serious tone, he added, “Opportunity L.A. helped me a lot. It’s given me the courage to try new things and raised my self-esteem.”

Created in August by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the wake of the Los Angeles riots, Opportunity L.A. has provided more than 500 residents of areas affected by the riots with full-time, temporary positions.

Participants engaged in a wide variety of work, including trail maintenance, renovation of forest facilities and firefighting. They worked in the Angeles, San Bernardino, Cleveland and Los Padres national forests.

The Forest Service has not been content with simply providing participants with steady work.

The agency also has made an effort to equip participants to find other jobs. Forest Service specialists in career counseling were brought in to teach job search skills and resume writing, while other officials organized a job fair at which participants could meet with local employers.

As a result of the fair, in early November, several participants were offered permanent positions, said Tina Brown, a forest service career counselor.

Participants also were encouraged to submit proposals for educational grants, and more than 40 applicants received grants ranging from $250 to $750 during last week’s closing ceremonies.

The $5.8-million-dollar Opportunity L.A. program originally was intended to end in October, but due to careful budgeting and a recent infusion of another $1 million from the Department of Agriculture, participants were able to work until December.

“We’re very happy the Agriculture Department decided to supply us with additional funds,” said Opportunity L.A. director Terry Ellis. “It’s allowed us to extend the program and ensure that participants will go home with a little extra money for the holidays.”

Ellis added that because Opportunity L.A. had gone so well, the Forest Service has recommended to President-elect Bill Clinton that similar programs be instituted nationwide. Ellis predicted that a national program would cost about $3 billion and provide four years of full-time work for more than 25,000 people.

Should that become reality, there will be no shortage of volunteers from the Forest Service. During the course of the Opportunity L.A. program, Forest Service employees from all over the country volunteered their efforts.

“It’s been great,” said James Hall, who came from Lassen National Forest five months ago.

“I knew the people here could do a good job,” he said. “It’s been a real pleasure to watch their confidence and self-worth increase. I’d definitely do this again if the opportunity arose.

“Before Opportunity L.A., many of the participants never came to the forest,” Hall added with a smile. “But now they bring their kids up here to show them the work they’ve done. It’s wonderful to see that sort of pride on their faces.”