DAILY NEWS PEOPLE : FRANK ALEGRIA.Byline: - Sharon Cotal When Frank Alegria was a boy growing up in East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. , his father gave him a set of books - classics like ``The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' and ``Treasure Island'' - and said, ``You will read these.'' Young Alegria was daunted daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin by the task at first, but once he began, it instilled in him a love for reading that he still has today. Later, during his teen-age years, Alegria got off track and dropped out of high school. He says his love for reading is what got him back on the right path. He got his general equivalency equivalency the combining power of an electrolyte. See also equivalent. diploma, joined the military and made his life a success. Now that he is retired, he could just sit around and read all day if he wanted. But he wants to help other young men whose lives are off-track, so he teaches kids to read at a school for foster and troubled teen-agers. AGE: 63 RESIDENCE: Northridge BORN AND RAISED IN: Born in East Los Angeles, he moved to Northridge in 1972. OCCUPATION: Retired communications planner for the City of Los Angeles
MARITAL STATUS marital status, n the legal standing of a person in regard to his or her marriage state. : Married to Mary Louise for 43 years. CHILDREN: Frank Jr., 42, Debra, 40, and Lydia, 38. He also has five grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. . VOLUNTEERISM: Alegria tutors students twice a week at Penny Lane New Directions School, providing one-on-one assistance in academics, focusing on reading skills. Alegria believes that once a child learns to read, the whole world opens up to him. He also provides transportation and friendship to a Penny Lane teen who has cancer and needs to go to the hospital for frequent chemotherapy treatments. Every Friday, Alegria serves as a eucharistic minister The title Eucharistic Minister is a term that is given to the laity who have been authorized by Church Clergy to administer and distribute the 'True Presence of Jesus Christ', i.e. with Our Lady of Lourdes The apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes began when Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year old peasant girl from Lourdes, when questioned by her mother, admitted that she had seen a "lady" in the cave of Massabielle, about a mile from the town, on 11 February, 1858, while she was gathering Church in Northridge. He visits the sick and homebound home·bound adj. Restricted or confined to home, as of an invalid. , offering them holy communion, then he stays and chats with them for a while. ``These people are sick, and they can't get out of the house, so sometimes they just need someone to talk to,'' said Alegria. He also works with Trinity Health Trinity Health is an American healthcare provider headquartered in Minot, North Dakota. Trinity is a non-profit organization. Trinity has a 150+ physician medical group. Services, a hospice that connects each volunteer with a person who is terminally ill Terminally Ill When a person is not expected to live more than 12 months. Notes: Any gifts given out by the afflicted person at this time may be considered as a dispersion of the estate rather than a gift. . Alegria says it always made him sad to read that someone had died alone. ``Everyone should have someone with them at a time like that - some company to ease their journey,'' he said. HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED?: ``When I retired, people said, `Why don't you get into consulting or work part-time?' But I felt that I needed to give. I felt that if I ever had an opportunity to help someone, especially someone whose situation had been similar to mine, I should do it. I like kids, and sometimes kids get a raw deal, so I try to do what I can to help. Now people say, `You're retired. Why are you still so busy?' '' FAVORITE DAILY TASK: ``Talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to my grandchildren. They don't live around here, so I talk to them on the phone. Some of them have e-mail, and we send messages back and forth. Kids today are so sharp.'' BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: ``I get frustrated at Penny Lane when I can't get through to a kid. We go through the motions of learning the words, but he's just not getting it. Most of the kids there don't even read the newspaper, but I tell them, `Read the funnies! Read anything!It will affect your life.' I see kids with so much potential, but then something happens in their life and they lose all the progress they have made. They are no longer motivated to learn.'' GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: ``My marriage. We made it 43 years, and I'm not the easiest guy to live with. And my kids turned out great, too. I wanted them to be prepared for life, so I guess I pushed them pretty hard. But a couple of years ago, I got a sweet letter from my daughter, Lydia, telling me she understood what I was trying to do when she was young, and she appreciated it. That letter brought a tear to my eye.'' GOALS FOR THE FUTURE: ``I always want to learn something from every situation. From the people who are terminally ill, I learn to have the courage to face the unknown; at Penny Lane, I learn patience and how to know when to back off; from the homebound people, I learn how people always need each other.'' HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?: ``Happiness. There are people out there with a lot of money, but they're not very happy. The other day at Penny Lane, a young man came up to me and gave me a big hug - that doesn't happen very often, these kids are pretty tough - and it made me so happy. I went home with a big smile on my face. My (last) name means `happiness' and that's what is important to me.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Frank Alegria Myung J. Chun/Daily News |
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