CRENSHAW : Dreams Coming True at Youth Center

Chilton Alphonse says the triumphant sports figures etched in the new mural that adorns one side of his building pretty much reflect the recent fortunes of his Community Youth Sports and Arts Foundation.

“We’ve had a run of good luck, no doubt,” said Alphonse, 44, executive director of the foundation. “Things have been tough in the past, but a lot of things came together at the same time.”

Against the backdrop of the Sept. 22 dedication for the mural, which was commissioned by the Social and Public Art Resource Center, a city- and privately funded organization. Alphonse was presented with donations of 31 personal computers from Unisys and checks from the Shell Oil Co. and the county Board of Supervisors totaling $41,000. Motown President Gerald Busby also pitched in $5,000 to repaint the two-story structure at 4828 Crenshaw Blvd.

The computers will be used to start a computer lab at the nonprofit foundation, which houses a variety of services including a Los Angeles Unified School District alternative high school, 24-hour gym facilities and parenting and SAT-preparation classes. About 65 students and adults use the foundation’s facilities each month.

Unisys, which is based in Pennsylvania, heard about the foundation through Rebuild L.A. and donated the equipment after company officials toured the building last month.

“When we saw how much of a difference the computers could make for the students, we went with it,” said Unisys spokesman Luke Burson.

After five years of struggling on government grants and occasional private donations, Alphonse garnered attention in 1990 when he won $400,000-plus in the state lottery and promptly plowed $100,000 of it into his organization.

“We need more people like Chilton,” said Shell Oil spokesman Bob Russ, whose company gave the foundation $16,000. “He takes in kids who’ve been kicked out of school, kids in gangs, kids without parents and treats them like a father. We feel good about supporting an effort like this.”

Though he said he has been lucky of late--Motown’s Busby stumbled upon the foundation when he got lost on his way to the airport--Alphonse is hoping for bigger and better things for his operation. Mayor Richard Riordan is scheduled to visit the facilities this week, and Alphonse wants to discuss the possibility of the foundation taking over the whole block.

“You might as well dream big,” he said, “or don’t dream at all.”