Jon Douglas Helps Establish Center for Students
“A Place Called Home,” a study center for high school students in South-Central Los Angeles, is being established with the help of real estate magnate Jon Douglas.
Douglas donated the services of Debrah Constance, one of his longtime assistants, as the center’s executive director, and Douglas is on the center’s board of directors. He also donated office space in his Westside headquarters for fund-raising.
The South-Central center, across the street from Thomas Jefferson High School, was co-founded by Constance and the Rev. Arthur Jupiter of Morning Star Baptist Church. Situated in the annex of the church, the center will be open six days a week, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“It’s one of the only safe places in the area for kids to go after school,” Constance said.
The center is supported solely by private donations and volunteers so far, but Constance expects it to be fully operational in September, offering computer, weaving, aerobics, photography and yoga classes as well as tattoo removal services, through Martin Luther King Hospital, for former gang members.
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