PROGRAM OFFERS SECOND CHANCE.

Byline: BRENT HOPKINS Staff Writer

GRIFFITH PARK -- They endured 100-degree days, long bus rides and doubts, but these kids from the 'hood made it.

This summer, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks partnered with community groups to offer the Youth Employment Services program, a unique internship targeting more than 40 at-risk youths. It reached out to ex-gangsters, dropouts and residents of rough neighborhoods, hoping to train them in forestry, park maintenance and golf-course care.

Some washed out, unable to take the structure or the early mornings. Some got locked up. Some just found other things to do.

But Friday, 30 graduated from the program.

Two have been hired full time, one part time and six are in the process of signing on with the city. Many of the others have applications in for permanent jobs or have signed up for more training, looking to begin careers with good pay and benefits.

``This was a second chance for a lot of people,'' said Adika Harris, 19, of North Hills. ``Just because you had a record, just because you messed up doesn't mean you can't do something better. They stuck their necks out for us, which was great.

``I just need a ticket like this and I'll make my own success.''

Life in foster care

Harris spent his life in foster care and was working in a video store before he got into the program, where he learned to groom a golf course and uproot a dead tree. He hopes to parlay the skills into a career working outdoors.

Though the rough background of many of the participants was cause for anxiety, tree surgeon supervisor Fred Hall said it never caused a problem in the field. Boisterous and charismatic, he took a personal interest in many of the interns and shepherded them through.

Today, four of his charges will take the test to become tree surgeons themselves.

``It was a joy to work with all these young people,'' Hall said. ``They were willing, able and had a great attitude.''

The mornings came early and the work wasn't easy, but Steven Solis stuck with it. He's sick of customer service jobs and wants to make some money to go back to school. A Glassell Park resident, he never ran with a gang but knows the hardships of the 'hood.

``These programs need to survive for the few guys who want to get out of the ghetto,'' he said. ``If you don't give them a chance, you'll never see these guys bloom. You'll never see them help people.''

He brought in his friends and brother, Gabriel, ending up on a forestry crew known both as The Fantastic Five and The X-Men. As part of the preparation for the Griffith Observatory reopening in November, the crew trimmed more than 600 trees leading up to the entrance.

Adam Gutierrez, one of Solis' friends from Glassell Park who worked on the crew, sports rough, scarred hands from months of hard work. He's learned to tie knots, wield chain saws and spot disease that will cripple a healthy-looking tree.

At the beginning of the program, he was afraid of heights, but he now ascends to check on a 100-foot-tall palm tree without hesitation.

At 23, he figures his other options would be the military or cleaning bathrooms in low-paying janitorial jobs.

``I looked at this as a way out, a way out of being on the streets,'' he said. ``It almost saved my life. It kept me focused, opened my eyes to what's out there, maybe one day have a nice car, buy a house of my own.''

The interns brought their families, girlfriends and children to Friday's graduation ceremony. Some came dressed for work, wearing scuffed Dickies pants and polo shirts. Others sported baggy jeans, backward caps and sunglasses.

Reaching into hearts

As the hosts from Parks and Rec singled out employees like Hall who mentored the students, the interns erupted in cheers. They pumped their fists and roared like they were at a football game. When their own names came up, the calls got even louder.

``To make them all work together was a real challenge, but it worked,'' said Ann Vollmer, a principal recreation supervisor who helped oversee the program. ``People reached down into their hearts and they did it.''

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Van Nuys, who helped steer federal funding to North Hills-based Communities in Schools to facilitate the program, arrived to shake hands and give out certificates. Looking a little out of place in his coat and tie among the crowd of rough-looking young men, but no less enthusiastic, he hailed the results and thanked them for their participation.

``These are some tough, high-spirited guys, sure,'' he said afterward. ``But I'm not here because these kids are voting in an election. I'm doing it because this is an investment in society.''

An investment that paid off in ways not often considered by most internships.

``I look to my right and I see a guy from my old neighborhood and he's sitting with a bunch of guys from a neighborhood we don't get along with. That says something,'' said Mario Corona, a former Pacoima gang leader who became a director for CIS after leaving the streets and earning a master's degree from the University of Southern California. ``Hopefully, this will be a new beginning for a lot of them.''

And for Arturo Sanchez, 20, it is. He left high school without a degree and got arrested on a drug charge as a youth. When the program began, he was living at home in North Hills and had no transportation. After a summer of sweat, sore muscles and scratched-up hands, he's got an application in with the city to stay on.

``I was living with my parents before and I'm on my own now,'' he said. ``I've got to get hired now so I can get on with my life.''

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Graduate Christian Quintanilla gets a hug from YES manager Charlotte Marten.

(2) Joseph Villafana of Sylmar shakes hands to celebrate his graduation Friday from the Youth Employment Services program during a ceremony at Griffith Park Camp in Los Angeles.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer