A Breakthrough for Youths Facing Barriers

Luis Molina was worried. He had gotten off track in junior high school and was having trouble getting back on.

“I was heading in a bad direction,” said Molina, now 18. “I was doing pretty bad, hanging out with the wrong crowd, trying to impress my friends.”

He was ready for a change, though, so the summer after his freshman year in high school he headed to the police storefront in Oxnard’s Colonia barrio, looking for information on the Police Department’s Explorer program for youths interested in law enforcement.

Instead, a volunteer steered Molina to Breakthrough Youth for Success. He gave it a try, and five years later he is glad he did.

“I stuck to the program, and it kept me busy, off the streets,” he said recently as he took a break from his job as an intern for El Concilio del Condado de Ventura, which runs Breakthrough.

This year, the program received $15,000 from the Los Angeles Times Holiday Campaign, which raises money for nonprofit agencies in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Breakthrough focuses on building self-esteem and preventing violence and teenage pregnancy, said Yvonne Gutierrez, executive director of El Concilio, Ventura County’s biggest Latino advocacy group.

The yearlong program serves more than 100 youths, ages 13 through 18. Although they don’t have to come from the juvenile justice system, Gutierrez said, all face some type of barrier.

The 8-year-old program offers weekly sessions for the youths on topics that change monthly--including study skills, tolerance, drug awareness, communications, HIV/AIDS and college. There are also field trips, camp-outs, weekend activities, a newsletter put out by the teens and a mentor program that matches community members with youths.

B.B. Zamudio joined another El Concilio youth program when she was 17. Now, at 27, she runs Breakthrough.

One measure of the program’s success, Zamudio said, is that the teens invite their friends, and many return themselves.

“We have kids here who are already on their fifth year,” she said.

She tells of one student who entered with less than a .666 GPA--all Fs except for one A in English. “Her thing was truancy,” Zamudio said. “She hated school.”

With the encouragement of Breakthrough staff members, she made a commitment to attend school daily.

“One day she brought in another report card and she had all A’s and one B,” Zamudio said. “I was so proud of her.” Now, Zamudio said, the girl is on track for college scholarships.

No one is forced to join the program, and there is a dropout rate of about 50%, Zamudio said. But some of the dropouts have good reasons for leaving, such as sports or a job. And that is fine.

“We encourage them to get life skills,” Zamudio said.

The program, which costs about $160,000 a year, is also funded through the United Way and the state’s Department of Health Services.

In addition to his paid internship, Molina is taking classes at both Oxnard and Ventura colleges and is enrolled in the Oxnard Police Department’s Explorer Program. Someday he hopes to become a youth-services officer for the Oxnard Police Department.

But while he is working toward that goal, he is happy that he is getting the chance to help other teens through El Concilio’s youth programs. And he knows it all started with the Breakthrough program.

“I’m glad that I took that chance,” he said. “It totally changed my life.”

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HOW TO GIVE

The annual Holiday Campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $800,000 raised at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations (checks or money orders) supporting the Holiday Campaign should be sent to: L.A. Times Holiday Campaign, File 56986, Los Angeles, CA 90074-6986.

Do not send cash. Credit card donations can be made on the Web site: www.latimes.com/holidaycampaign.

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