PACOIMA : Funds Sought to Make Building a Youth Center

The Los Angeles Police Department is struggling to find funds to renovate a Pacoima warehouse and convert it into a first-class recreation center for gang-prone youths.

Purchased for the department’s Jeopardy program in July, the warehouse will require more than $100,000 in improvements, said Officer Richard Stocks, who helps oversee Jeopardy programs for the LAPD’s Foothill Division. Jeopardy programs, which are in operation at several police stations, are designed to target and help youths who are at risk of joining gangs.

In the Foothill program, Jeopardy participants are asking businesses and residents to sponsor the renovation by “buying” the building by the square foot. Companies or individuals can sponsor entire rooms or just a small part of one for $7.50-$25 per square foot. In return, Jeopardy will list the donors’ names on a blueprint display, or hang plaques noting particularly generous benefactors.

But support has been limited, said Stocks, and the campaign has been extended beyond its original Jan. 1 deadline. Only 630 of the 13,000 square feet have been sponsored, he said.

Even so, the warehouse at Glenoaks Boulevard and Arroyo Avenue has been a home away from home for several dozen youths.

For the past four months, twin brothers Arnold and Erwin Landa have made the Spartan warehouse their after-school home, where they pursue a dream of becoming famous boxers like Oscar De La Hoya or Julio Cesar Chavez--after putting in a mandatory hourlong study period.

“It’s fun,” said Arnold Landa, unwrapping his wrists after a bout. “It keeps me off the streets.”

Besides learning to spar, dance or play sports, youths who participate sign on for a yearlong program of study, literacy training and anti-violence sessions aimed at strengthening self-esteem and family ties.

“It’s a way of fulfilling the human needs the gangs and criminal activity fill now,” Stocks said.

On a recent visit, Officer John Hardin led a group through a drill of push-ups, making everyone start over when just a few sagged. With no complaints, Arnold and Erwin Landa leaned on sinewy arms, their bodies as rigid as boards. They have emerged as leaders, a success for officers like Stocks and Hardin. As a group, the boxers have improved their grade-point average from 1.9 to 3.8 in the past nine months, Stocks noted.

“Once they learn to read and participate, they’re not embarrassed to participate in class,” Stocks said. “No longer do they become a behavior problem. That’s what we’re banking on, that they develop a better attitude toward school.”