GANG PROJECTS FUNDED; COUNSELORS TO SHARE LIFE LESSONS IN VALLEY PROGRAMS.Byline: Luz Villarreal Daily News Staff Writer John Tostado Tostado is a Spanish word meaning "toasted". Concepts related are:
For Eddie De Paz, it took a bullet that killed a friend. Both men - one a team leader for Hope In Youth, the other an outreach counselor for its umbrella organization
An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or , New Directions for Youth - are using their life's experiences to keep kids out of gangs. Their gang-intervention program was among two approved for a combined contract surpassing $1 million Wednesday by the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. to target three crime-plagued middle schools in the San
Fernando Valley San Fernando ValleyValley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. as part of the new L.A. Bridges program. New Directions for Youth will lead the consortium project, which includes Hope In Youth, at Pacoima and Maclay middle schools for $680,000, and El Centro El Centro (ĕl sĕn`trō), city (1990 pop. 31,384), seat of Imperial co., SE Calif., near the Mexican border; inc. 1908. It is a processing and shipping center for a heavily irrigated agricultural region (vegetables, grain, cotton, De Amistad, which will lead a similar project at Van Nuys' Fulton Middle School Fulton Middle School is a school in Fountain Valley, California, in the US, serving grades 6-8. The principal is Chris Christensen, and the assistant is Chris Mullen. for $340,000. Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas Mark Ridley-Thomas (born 1954) is currently a California State Senate where he chairs the Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee]]. He represents the 26th district which includes the communities of Vermont Knolls, Jefferson Park, Leimert Park, Hancock Park, Korean , who chairs an ad hoc committee ad hoc committee A committee formed with the purpose of addressing a specific issue or issues, which theoretically is disbanded once its raison d'etre is finished that proposed the Bridges program, said Wednesday's action completes the process for setting up gang-intervention programs at 26 middle schools throughout the city. The money will help pay for mentors, sports activities, after-school tutorial programs and staff members like Tostado, who spends much of his days helping youths find jobs and keeping them productive. ``There are so many things that attract kids to the wrong side,'' said Tostado, a 27-year-old reformed gang member. ``I try to stay involved with their lives,'' he said. ``It's been very rewarding to me to talk to a kid who has no hope and no vision for the future, and I work with him and he starts to build his self-esteem and starts to come around.'' Tostado said he underwent the transformation when he was a teen-ager. He grew up in Inglewood in a neighborhood surrounded by gang members. In order to protect themselves, he and other boys on the block formed their own gang. ``When there are 16 boys in one block with nothing to do, all you do is hang out,'' he said. ``We couldn't leave the block because there were gangs all over the place so we had to stick together. It was an extended family to me.'' His involvement in the gang led him to stealing cars. He was eventually caught and he spent a few months with the Californian Youth Authority, but the experience didn't change him. A grown man from the community did. He approached Tostado when he needed it the most. He became his mentor. He encouraged Tostado to do well in school. He got him enrolled at Santa Monica College Santa Monica College was first opened in 1929 as Santa Monica Junior College. Current enrollment is 32,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. The college also has one of the largest international student populations of any community college in the US, with approximately . ``He kept me busy and motivated me,'' said Tostado. ``It was the first time anyone showed interest in me.'' By the time he was 23, Tostado said, 10 of his neighborhood friends were dead. Three overdosed on drugs, one committed suicide, and six were killed in gang-related shootings. One of them was Alberto, the youngest and most popular neighborhood kid. ``I made a promise to myself I didn't want to see any more Albertos die,'' said Tostado. For De Paz, the L.A. Bridges mission is just as personal. At 9, he began skipping school, vandalizing and stealing. These were steps, he thought, toward becoming a big-time gang member like the older boys on his North Hills neighborhood. With a stepfather step·fa·ther n. The husband of one's mother and not one's natural father. stepfather Noun a man who has married one's mother after the death or divorce of one's father Noun 1. who worked long hours and no older brothers, ``Chico,'' an older gang member who took De Paz under his wing, became his role model. ``The love and support I received was from Chico,'' said De Paz, now 23. ``The irony is he was preventing me from joining the gang. He would tell me he wanted what was best for me. He didn't want me to be around gangs and drugs.'' De Paz soon learned why. One afternoon, he was hanging out on the street with Chico when a car drove by. A shot from inside the car killed Chico, 17, De Paz said. ``From that point, I became scared,'' said De Paz. ``That deterred me and made me think about things.'' Now, De Paz, who is a University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , student and outreach counselor for New Directions for Youth, works with kids from troubled families, who are involved in drugs, gangs and struggling in school. He reaches out to them through sports programs, tours of college campuses and, most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , by sharing his own story. ``I guess I want to set a standard as far as mentoring, taking leadership, exemplifying to the kids that just because you are a minority or come from a rough neighborhood, don't use that as an excuse to prevent you from succeeding in life,'' De Paz said. ``I'm trying to plant a seed in their minds that there is always hope.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) John Tostado, 27, a former gang member, now works as a counselor for Hope for Youth, one of two anti-gang programs that was awarded $1 million in funding from the city Wednesday. (2) Rick Miramontez, 17, a Van Nuys High School Van Nuys High School (VNHS) established in 1914, is a high school in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, California, belonging to the Los Angeles Unified School District: District 2. student speaks with John Tostado about a job interview. Myung J. Chun/Daily News |
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