MID-WILSHIRE : Gym Renovation Gets $35,000 Assist

With an assist from the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Heart of Los Angeles youth program’s basketball teams will finally have a home court advantage.

The Junior Chamber’s Champions Foundation, with a contribution from the Riviera Country Club, last week donated $35,000 to the gymnasium renovation at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 3300 Wilshire Blvd.

Founded four years ago by Mitch Moore, the Heart of Los Angeles offers youths in the Mid-Wilshire area free after-school and weekend activities, including basketball, arts workshops, dance and academic tutoring.

Overall, more than 250 youths participate in the organization’s programs, with as many as 70 using the gym on weekends for basketball, volleyball or gymnastics.

Water from a leaky roof had damaged the already well-worn floor. But now that the roof has been patched, the grant will allow the youth organization to repair and refinish the gym floor, replaster and pad the walls.

“It’s a great thing,” said Hayman Gebru, 18, who plays center on the Heart of Los Angeles’ team in the Central City Basketball Assn. “We’ll finally get some glass backboards (to replace wooden ones) and better rims. We’re getting a scoreboard too so now we can have some home games. It’s going to be a big advantage.”

Last season the team was forced to play all 15 games on their opponents’ courts.

“We lost our last game by three points, but if we could have played at home with our crowd there we’d probably have won,” Gebru said.

A new gym will also mean “more participation, more excitement and more involvement in the program from the community,” said Jon Pearson, the youth organization’s athletic director and basketball coach.

“With home games it will be a better experience for the kids, more like a high school gym atmosphere.”

The Junior Chamber, with a membership of 800 people between the ages of 21 and 39, conducts more than 40 projects each year, including the Nissan Los Angeles Open, the L.A. Watts Summer Games and the Foster Family Picnic. The Heart of Los Angeles grant is one of several awarded by the Junior Chamber to nonprofit agencies serving at-risk youths.

“We were impressed with the scope of HOLA’s program,” said Sari Smith, the Junior Chamber’s vice president.

“The staff and students are really dedicated. There’s a lot of positive energy here.”