LATINO FAMILIES BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO OLD YMCA.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - Mid Valley Family YMCA pitchman Eli Guana can fling a prize across a room faster than peanuts fly through Dodger Stadium.

``We got a winner!'' shouts the ``Grand Slam'' fund-raising chairman, tossing baseball trinkets to volunteers who had raised $125,000 by last week to usher needy kids to camp, the gym and other activities to keep them off the street.

``Ladies and gentlemen, please come back next week for our (Wednesday) fund-raiser.''

Community leaders, YMCA officials and hundreds of new members also consider the 57-year-old Van Nuys YMCA - once poised to shut its doors after years of declining membership - a winner.

The new Y, however, is more than its almost $1 million makeover. More than its designer green-and-blue paint. More than its airy lobby, sparkling pool, gleaming exercisers, bustling basketball courts and day care center.

The new Mid Valley Family YMCA represents how a San Fernando Valley institution that lost most of its white support learned to adapt - and to thrive - in a mostly Latino community.

``It's a turnaround,'' said Jane Stanton, director of the North Valley YMCA and group vice president for the Valley's four YMCAs. ``It was dead, almost dead.''

Residents agree.

``Before, I never hear anything about this (place),'' said Susana Robles, 32, of Van Nuys, who has placed one child in a Mid Valley Y preschool and one in after-school care. ``But now I hear people really like it.

``The whole community has started to come.''

On most nights, teens and young adults pack the Mid Valley gym. Whistles sound for volleyball. Basketballs pitter-patter while scores of shoes screech between each hoop.

In the middle of the commotion sits Priscilla Serrano, 10, of Panorama City, mindfully doing her spelling homework while Jim Mendoza, 11, of North Hollywood aims free throws by himself. ``It's pretty great,'' he said. ``I like basketball, and they have an indoor pool.''

Throughout the two-story building, families file into weight rooms, workout rooms and a host of ballet, cheerleading, karate, kickboxing tumbling, gymnastics, aerobics and other classes designed for ``kids in motion.''

New draws even include tai chi, yoga, and senior chair and water exercises.

``I've seen a big turnaround, more activities for families as a whole,'' said Janet Lavender, 42, of North Hollywood, a Y volunteer whose 7-year-old son attends afternoon day care. ``Now it's a place families can come and feel safe.''

Rewind to 1998.

Membership at the Young Men's Christian Association on Lennox Avenue near Vanowen Street had fallen from a high of nearly 3,000 members to fewer than 1,000.

Former patrons had either moved away from Van Nuys or been lured to other Ys or sexy private gyms built from the fitness craze of the 1980s. The Y that had grown from a homebound Indian Maidens group in 1945 to a Van Nuys mainstay had lost its magnet.

Equipment didn't work. Pool filters had fritzed. Carpeting had turned threadbare, computers into antiques. Planters had lost their green. And YMCA tennis courts were sold for cash.

Los Angeles schools had even suspended nine off-site YMCA day-care facilities for being under par.

``It was a dump,'' Lavender said, a sentiment about the old facility shared by other members. ``The facilities weren't adequate for today's needs.''

In debt and in need of leadership, the Mid Valley Y was ``repositioned'' by the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA. But the 1999 takeover meant nearly $1 million for operations and renovations - and a newfound mission to serve Latinos of Van Nuys.

``The Mid Valley Family YMCA should begin to reach out to Latino youth and teens and their families immediately,'' recommended a YMCA marketing consultant recommendation. It did.

Enter Ruben Corona, the Mexico City native and boyish director of the Wilmington Y hired to steer Mid Valley into the black.

``The image of the Y at one time was it was for a select group of people,'' said Corona, 42, of South Gate. ``It was very exclusive, mostly white, seniors and adults. We needed to change the image of the facility - the way it looked, the programs delivered to the community.''

Corona hired Spanish-speaking staffers and trained them to reach out to new members. His buzzword: customer service. At the front desk, each client was to be greeted by name.

``A year ago, this place was almost empty, but now it's full of people,'' said Heyner Obregon, 18, a YMCA front desk worker. ``We care for everybody; we try to remember everybody's names. We get that from Ruben, 'cause he's like that.''

Obregon, a high school student from Guatemala, credits the Y for keeping him out of trouble. On Aug. 26, he'll join the U.S. Marine Corps.

``That's why we're here,'' he said. ``To keep kids from joining gangs - that's why I'm here, believe me. It kept me off drugs and off the streets.''

In regaining community support, Corona also reached out to Van Nuys community leaders while broadening new programs to fit families. The result, say Y officials, was higher morale and an influx of new members - from 906 members in 1998 to more than 1,800 last year.

``You couldn't measure its importance, overwhelmingly so,'' Van Nuys community activist ``Flip'' Smith said of the Mid Valley Y. ``We don't have a Boys & Girls Club. Schools don't provide activities for youth. The YMCA offers sports, character and guidance of children's morals and values.''

Board members are pleased that this year the Mid Valley YMCA is in a position to finally break even.

``We're on the upturn, no question about that,'' said Bob Mercer, 87, a Valley YMCA board member since 1947. ``We've had to change according to a different clientele.''

``We improved and therefore satisfaction improved and membership grew,'' added Darby Dreis, 82, on the board since 1950. ``People didn't realize that in every damn job, there needs to be a sales effort.''

Mid Valley volunteers are well on their way to raising $140,000 for Y scholarships. But it's not the heavy hitters, but the grass-roots support, that makes it worthwhile, they say.

``It's the poorest people, poor Latinos, moms, who give the most money,'' said Y volunteer Chip Amos, 45. ``They don't say no - I've had some people who open their purses, have $20, and give you a ten - because without the Y, they don't have a place to come for their kids.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) Swimming instructor Yoko Mikani instructs young swimmers in the YMCA pool. The revitalized Y now offers lessons for children and adults, plus sports, day care and after-school programs, and other activities that have re-energized the facility.

(2 -- color) Youngsters line up at the side of the YMCA pool in Van Nuys, waiting their turn during a swimming lesson.

(3 -- color) A few years ago, the Mid Valley YMCA in Van Nuys was poised to close its doors. But Director Ruben Corona has made the facility a vital part of the Valley community.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Map:

Mid-Valley YMCA