Divide and Counsel

Javier Reyes says he frequents the LAPD’s Foothill Jeopardy center because activities like sports, academic tutoring and counseling help him stay out of trouble.

But for the past four years, the center’s building hasn’t fit its purposes. Take, for example, some of the counseling sessions.

“It didn’t feel too good to talk about your private life right there in the middle of the kitchen,” said Reyes, 18, of Lake View Terrace. “Everyone here is glad we’re not going to have to do that anymore.”

Indeed, kitchen therapy sessions are a thing of the past. The 13,000-square-foot building that houses the Foothill Jeopardy program is getting a much-needed face lift, thanks to a grant from the Lopez Canyon Trust Fund.

Before the remodeling, which has taken about eight weeks, the building looked like a big, old warehouse.

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Armando Acero, one of the two LAPD officers who run the Foothill center, said it was virtually impossible to find privacy before the construction.

“Sometimes you’d have a conference with parents and you’d have to do it out in the middle of this warehouse,” he said. “It was terrible.”

It’s no wonder then that staff members consider the addition of soundproof offices the most important part of the upgrade.

The new design divided the facility in two, creating several offices, a computer room and a study hall on one side and a boxing gym, basketball court and roller hockey rink on the other.

“I can’t believe it finally happened,” said Jeopardy Operations Director Vicki Edwards. “It’s going to be a real youth center now. We waited three years for the money to do this.”

The $200,000 renovation, to be completed this week, will be celebrated Thursday with a 3 p.m. reopening ceremony attended by Los Angeles Police Department officials.

Funding for the project came from an account reserved for the neighborhood near the closed Lopez Canyon Landfill in Lake View Terrace. The $5-million trust fund was set up by the city of Los Angeles in 1991.

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The LAPD created Jeopardy to help steer at-risk youths away from gangs and drugs by keeping them busy with activities such as sports and support groups.

The Jeopardy program in Pacoima serves the same 65-square-mile area as the Foothill Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, including Sylmar, Arleta, Sunland and Lake View Terrace.

A paid staff of 12 civilians, along with 131 volunteers, help the officers run the program.

About 100 families use the facility, and though a $10 monthly donation is requested, no one is turned down for lack of funds.

Program officials say the newly renovated facility will help them accomplish their mission: to lure youths away from negative forces prevalent in many of their neighborhoods.

“The most important thing is that it’s definitely going to be a lot easier for us to run the program efficiently,” Officer Jose Verdin said.