EASTSIDE : Program to Bring Jobs to Area Youth

Community groups are invited to a Jan. 6 meeting at the local American Red Cross office to discuss how the Eastside will be affected by the newly enacted National and Community Service Trust Act.

The $1.5-billion bill, signed into law last month by President Clinton, will send an estimated $20 million to California for youth job programs, said Genevieve Gomez Lopez, director of community outreach services for El Centro Human Services Corp. Lopez hopes to bring together community groups that will represent East Los Angeles in negotiations allocating the state’s share of the funding.

Other community groups have formed a consortium, called Building Up: Los Angeles, to lobby for program funds and help plan how the city’s share of the money will be used. Building Up: Los Angeles includes 29 community organizations and five colleges and universities. In addition, Gov. Pete Wilson is forming a statewide commission to oversee money distribution in anticipation of receiving the funds by June.

A federally funded summer jobs program began shortly after last year’s riots, with a few jobs created in South-Central. This past summer, that program offered 150 jobs throughout the county to youths who worked on educating elementary school children on public safety, Lopez said. The goal of the National and Community Service Trust Act, Lopez said, is to offer full- and part-time jobs to youths throughout the year.

Organizers hope to offer 100 jobs to Eastside youths in the next year, said Guillermo Hernandez of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. The jobs will focus on public safety, the environment, health and education.

“What I am looking for are organizations that are working in those areas already, instead of reinventing the wheel,” Hernandez said.

“We want to find out how the national service project can reinforce what they are already doing and help them reach more people and hire more kids.”

The Clinton plan originally was proposed to exchange college tuition for two years of community service. The program will now offer minimum-wage jobs to 14- to 25-year-olds.

At a Dec. 2 meeting, 13 Eastside agencies, including the Salesian Boys and Girls Club, Barrio Peace Warriors and Mujeres y Hombres Nobles, discussed the plan. The Jan. 6 meeting, from 4 to 6 p.m., will further those talks and increase the number of groups represented on the Eastside, Lopez said.

“The kids are benefiting,” Lopez said. “If they weren’t, I wouldn’t be there, but they are. We’re having an impact.”

The American Red Cross, Central East District, is at 5051 E. 3rd St.

Information: (213) 780-7660.