Local Service Corps Takes Pledge of Action, Altruism

With an economics degree from UCLA, and a resume laced with honors and awards, 22-year-old Anna Ouroumian figures she could easily command a higher salary, complete with impressive business cards and a lofty title--but Ouroumian has her sights on a different goal.

The recent UCLA graduate from Glendale is content to spend this year working with a local anti-hunger project, earning a modest income.

Her co-workers will be people like Garland Robinson of South Los Angeles, who temporarily put off obtaining a master’s degree to fulfill a lifelong dream of “working with the people.”

Like thousands of Americans across the country, Ouroumian and Robinson have signed up for a “season of service” in AmeriCorps, the President’s national service program. Monday, the two gathered at the Universal Amphitheatre with nearly 1,000 other participants for the mass swearing-in of the nation’s first class of AmeriCorps workers.

In Los Angeles, the thread uniting an otherwise disparate group of AmeriCorps members--young and old, middle class and poor--is an idealism reminiscent of a bygone era in American history: the belief that they can be the agents of change. Like a domestic Peace Corps, the AmeriCorps members will combat problems ranging from hunger and crime to illiteracy and pollution.

“I’m interested in community empowerment and . . . showing people that things can be done,” said Ouroumian, who grew up in Glendale. “I know it sounds cliche-ish, but I believe anything is possible.”

At the ceremony, AmeriCorps members listened to a string of speeches laced with words of encouragement and praise by Mayor Richard Riordan, Police Chief Willie L. Williams and U. S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros, as well as past and present members of other service organizations.

“AmeriCorps will rise or fall with your success this year,” Cisneros said. “You’re on the ground floor of something really big. Today is an historic event.”

Speaking via satellite to AmeriCorps members nationwide, President Clinton applauded members for their commitment to changing America and “getting things done.”

“Every generation in our history has learned to take responsibility for our future, and your generation is no exception,” Clinton said. “We look at you now, and we know you are no generation of slackers. Instead, you’re a generation of doers.”

For all its seriousness, the event, hosted by actor Andrew Shue of the television show “Melrose Place,” seemed like a pep rally at times, with members breaking out in impromptu chants--”We want Bill!”--and songs--”Lean On Me”--while waiting for the satellite hookup.

Singer Patti LaBelle, who donned a black AmeriCorps cap, and the R & B group Immature brought the crowd to its feet.

“I like what you’re doing,” LaBelle said as the crowd cheered wildly. “Keep on striving for the positive things in life.”

The centerpiece of the event was the pledge, taken by all new AmeriCorps members.

Standing before a screen, their right hands held high, the group at the amphitheater listened to Clinton’s words and repeated them:

“I will get things done for America to make our people safer, smarter and healthier. I will bring Americans together, to strengthen our communities. Faced with apathy, I will take action. Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground. Faced with adversity, I will persevere. . . .”

In return for their pledge, they, like members nationwide, will receive a living stipend, basic health insurance, a child-care allowance and a monetary award for college, vocational training or to be applied toward a previous educational loan.

Trial runs of the program this summer across the nation have received mixed reviews. Many know that the work is difficult, especially for the pay they will receive. But for some, at least, the compensation is secondary to the life-changing experiences they expect to have during their year of service.

Garland Robinson sees his year as a way to help and to lay the foundation for a lifelong career in social work.

While working on a political science degree at USC, Robinson became convinced that his calling is social work. But with a degree in political science and no experience, he could not find anyone to hire him.

“I asked, ‘How can I get the training if I’m not given a chance?’ ” he said. “I just wanted the chance to prove myself.”

AmeriCorps, he said, will give him that chance and an opportunity to put to use the experiences that have shaped his life.

A self-proclaimed “product of the ‘60s,” Robinson, 44, grew up on 27th Street between Central Avenue and Naomi Street. He remembers a different Los Angeles, one filled with communities where people knew and cared for each other.

“There was a brighter time in Los Angeles, and I was part of that time,” he said.

And Robinson has reason to believe in the possibility of change. In May he became the only one of his parents’ seven children to graduate from college, realizing a decades-old dream.

“I have a story to tell because I’ve been there,” he said.

Like Robinson, who was active in student government and other organizations, many AmeriCorps members are no strangers to community work.

Ouroumian, who graduated magna cum laude in June, spent her extra time outside the classroom planting trees at Nickerson Garden housing projects, promoting environmental awareness, helping with earthquake relief and working with a number of service organizations at UCLA.

And last year, she spent her summer break working with residents of the Pico-Union area near downtown Los Angeles, organizing community members in Summer of Service, the pilot program for AmeriCorps.

“We reached so many people that I was really inspired, and that reinforced my belief in community service,” Ouroumian said.

AmeriCorps is open to anyone over the age of 17, including high school dropouts, college graduates, students and professional school graduates. With these requirements, the program attracts individuals from varying backgrounds--some of whom might have been overlooked by other employers.

Before coming to this country four years ago, Mayra Perez volunteered with the American Red Cross, assisting the victims of war in her native El Salvador.

A clerk at a shoe store, she is studying for her high school equivalency degree and will spend her AmeriCorps year working with an anti-hunger project.

David Guizar, 21, was once in a gang and his brother was killed by gang members. He will spend a year working in his neighborhood in South Los Angeles, trying to help the same kinds of young people he once fought with and against.

“I finally got my chance,” Guizar said as he waited for the ceremony to begin. “This is my first job. I’m part of staff. It feels pretty good, you know?”

Guizar will be working in the same program with Aqeela Sherrills, 25. When a fire at Jordan Downs housing project sparked racial tension three years ago, Sherrills, a resident of Watts, stepped in and served as a mediator.

Sherrills will spend a year with Building Up Los Angeles, where he will work on establishing tutoring programs, a public safety project, gang prevention and conflict mediation in the schools.

Beginning next week, 40 AmeriCorps workers, including Ouroumian, Robinson and Perez, will be added to the Interfaith Hunger Coalition’s permanent staff of four full-time and four part-time workers, who administer anti-hunger programs in the region. Its annual budget of $320,000 will increase to more than $1 million.

“This is going to enhance what we’ve been able to do, yet it’s part of something that’s brand new for us,” said Carolyn Olney of the Southern California Interfaith Hunger Coalition.

Perhaps one of the biggest contributions AmeriCorps members will bring to community service is their familiarity with their community and its problems, organizers say.

Along with his life experiences, Robinson will bring a very basic message to the people he works with:

“I understand, and I am one of you,” he said. “I’m just a regular person who cares and wants to help.”

NATIONAL SWEARING-IN: A23