MENTOR PROJECT GIVEN GRANT.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

California State University, Northridge, has received a three-year, $375,000 federal grant that will give a boost to a tutoring program at four San Fernando Valley sites, officials said Monday.

The money will be used by CSUN in partnership with the Jeopardy Foundation and the Los Angeles Police Department. After-school sessions are scheduled for sites in North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Reseda and Pacoima where more than 120 CSUN students will mentor children who are at risk of being recruited into gangs.

``I'm very happy to hear the news,'' said LAPD Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann, commander of the Valley Bureau and founder of the anti-violence Coalition on Gangs program. ``This is an offshoot of what we have been doing for the last two years.''

Jules Baker, president of the Jeopardy Foundation, said the grant is a much-needed shot in the arm for the program. As of April, two officers were supervising young people with a skeletal staff and volunteers at four Valley sites, officials said. Two after-school programs met in temporary LAPD bungalows.

``It's going to enable us to provide more services for our kids,'' said Baker, whose foundation operates on $800,000 a year and provides mentoring for as many as 275 kids in the Valley. ``It will give us a staff of professionals that we've never had before because we couldn't afford it.''

Maureen Rubin, director of CSUN's Center for Community Service Learning, which is overseeing the project, said gang activity is one of the most serious concerns facing the Valley community. She said she hopes the program will increase school attendance, improve grades and decrease gang temptations for children who are mentored.

``This grant will give (CSUN) students the opportunity to help the community's early intervention efforts by tutoring, mentoring and inspiring young people to seek positive alternatives to gang life,'' she said.

The grant is part of $40 million being awarded this year under Learn and Serve America, a White House initiative to foster citizenship, service and responsibility.

``These grants will foster high-quality service for students while helping to build the next generation of active, engaged citizens,'' said Amy Cohen, director of Learn and Serve America. She said the grants help support 2,300 local projects promoting community-service efforts by college students to enhance their academic and civic skills.

College students will help work with young people who have been tagged by their schools as being at risk of joining gangs. The youths will get tutoring and guidance into college and vocational ventures. Forty CSUN work-study students will go through the program each semester, beginning this spring.

Each participating college student will perform 300 hours of community service a year at one of the Jeopardy after-school sites.

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Los Angeles police Officer Efrain Zepeda works on weight-lifting with Sandra Cabrera, 14, at a Jeopardy Center for kids seeking alternatives to joining gangs.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer