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SUNDAY STORY Living up to its name Ten years ago, Shalimar Learning Center was a haven for children hungry for knowledge in a far-from-idyllic neighborhood. Today, the center is the driving force behind a thriving community and a model Deirdre Newman Daily Pilot September 26, 2004 Shalimar. The word conjures up an image of an exotic place, an abode of bliss — the literal translation in the Indian language. In 1994, Shalimar Street on the Westside was far from an abode of bliss. Gang violence infested the neighborhood. Drugs were sold out in the open. The residents were living in fear. And then a catalyst arrived on the scene, transforming the neighborhood's menacing feel and liberating its residents to feel safe again. The Shalimar Learning Center was created out of desperation by neighborhood moms who wanted a refuge for their children after school. This fall marks the center's 10-year anniversary. Shalimar has received a host of accolades over the years, spawned a clone in Arizona and some of its graduates have been the first in their families to go to college. "What they did for me is let me dream and think beyond the streets of Shalimar of Costa Mesa," said Nadia Flores, 23, one of the first students to attend Shalimar. "They let me see so many different things that were out there for me." A TROUBLED PAST Ten years ago, residents of the neighborhood were constantly in fear, said Newport-Mesa Unified School Board member Dave Brooks, a former police captain who patrolled the area. "It used to be a place where people were afraid to go in their front yards, there were cars parked all over the streets and in front of houses, the garages and alleys were unusable," Brooks said. "If you drove onto the street, there were drug dealers out in the open and stuff like that." After a gang shooting in the neighborhood, mothers organized to take control of their streets. Randy Barth was the head of the mission committee at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach at the time. Barth, and other groups interested in the neighborhood's salvation, met with the moms and listened to their concerns. Barth founded the Shalimar Learning Center as an answer to their plea. Police redoubled their efforts to eradicate the gangs and drug-dealing after the Shalimar Learning Center opened in the fall of 1994, Barth said. "They didn't want any [of the kids] getting shot, so they started trying again," he said. "They wound up blocking off the streets and eliminated on-street parking." The city's code enforcement department also demolished some dilapidated apartments and created a small park, Barth said. The physical transformation of Shalimar Street was a comprehensive effort, including traffic specialists, the Fire Department, Police Department, engineering and code enforcement, Brooks said. The city formed an apartment owners' association to gain their cooperation and a tenants association, Brooks added. "We followed a pattern that had been used in other urban redevelopment areas," Brooks said. "If you make it so it's not real attractive for people to get onto the streets, it cuts down a lot of the problems." The gang violence and drug dealing has been drastically reduced, Costa Mesa Police Capt. Jim Watson said, as has the crime rate. And it is a desirable neighborhood for Latino families to move into, Barth said. "I think it's more friendly than before," said Patricia Urquilla, who has lived in the neighborhood for 21 years and works at the after-school center. "Everyone was afraid to go out on the street [before]." St. Andrew's provided financial and volunteer support for the fledgling center with help from the Orange County Congregation Community Organization, St. Joachim's Catholic Church and Women of Vision. FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Barth rented an apartment in the 700 block of Shalimar for the original center, which served elementary school students. They expected about 30 children the first day and 100 showed up, he said. Now, they have to limit enrollment to about 250 kids because it's so popular, Barth said. The center currently serves elementary, junior high and high school students. A few months after it opened, Barth rented a second apartment in the building next door for a group of eighth-graders that became the teen center. Another apartment in that building came soon after for high school students. The apartments are brightly colored walls with motivating mantras like "We are the promise of the future." Staff members evaluate students' skills so they know what subjects they need help with and monitor their progress. The center recently started a literacy program run by a reading specialist. Fridays are art and enrichment days where the kids do arts and crafts and music activities. For most of the students, English is not their first language so they really benefit from extra exposure to English after school, Barth said. "At the start, we take kids that don't speak English at home, give them additional exposure to English, teach them to read and help them with their homework — all this support that typically their parents can't give them," Barth said. About 100 volunteers, from churches and the community, work with the students. One of them, Carlita Fuller, is a volunteer from St. Andrew's. "It makes me aware of the needs of children and how easy it is to help," Fuller said. "It should make a difference. Working one to one, almost everyone can learn." Eight-year old Luis Aguilar, a third-grader at Whittier Elementary School, said he likes to come to the center to work on math. Shalimar also has a computer lab, which helps the students compete on a level playing field with their higher-income peers, Barth said. Last year, the center gave the 11 high school graduates who were going on to college brand new laptops, he added. In 1997, the church spun Shalimar off as a nonprofit organization — THINK Together, an acronym made up of the goals of Teaching, Helping, Inspiring, and Nurturing Kids. The nonprofit now boasts 20 after-school programs in Orange County. St. Andrew's is still involved as a financial donor and provides volunteers. Over the last 10 years, it has given $1.1 million to the organization, Barth said. THINK Together needs to raise about $2 million every year to support all its centers, Barth said. HOPE AND INPSIRATION In addition to helping students with their homework, the after-school center helps them realize what it takes to achieve their dreams, Barth said. Like when one student wanted to be an architect but was flunking geometry, one of the volunteers took her to an architect's office to hear firsthand what kind of skills are necessary to make it in that field. "We start working on motivation and inspiration and they begin to think college is possible," Barth said. Flores lived in the neighborhood when the Shalimar Learning Center was in its embryonic stages. As a teenager, she was nonchalant about the center, she said. But once she got to know the volunteers at the center and saw how much they cared, Shalimar became a significant part of her life, she said. "I've always said the key to the program is the dedication from the volunteers," Flores said. "Because it's not only the academic help they offer, but the mentoring, attention and accountability and all these things you couldn't really get anywhere else." Flores went to Shalimar after school until she graduated from high school. From there, she became the first Shalimar graduate to get a degree from UC Santa Barbara, she said. She majored in international business. "I got to go a four-year university and have a good job and traveled to seven major countries through my major and all these amazing experiences," Flores said. BECOMING THE MODEL The center that sprung up out of necessity is now a paragon of after-school centers. Last year, THINK Together was one of two organizations awarded as a top after-school program in the National Community Education Day contest, sponsored by the Kinderstreet Corp. An independent evaluation of the program funded by the Samueli Foundation found it is one of the few after-school programs in the country that has improved grades and test scores among low-income English Language Learners. And the success of THINK Together spawned an out-of-state affiliate, THINK Together Arizona, which opened an after-school center in Phoenix in August. The Arizona center evolved in much the same way as the original — from the desire of church members to help at-risk youth, said Jim Bradshaw, the executive director of THINK Together Arizona. Bradshaw heard about Shalimar through Barth's sister-in-law, and came to visit some of the centers in Orange County before deciding the program was the perfect model to emulate, he said. "I was so impressed with the program … what I saw taking place educationally and certainly the mentoring portion," Bradshaw said. "Of the many characteristics of the program — the fact the community was so involved — I thought, this is really the way it ought to be done." •  DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers government. She may be reached at (949) 574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com. News Topics | Home | Research | History | Blood Gangs | Crip Gangs | People| Life in a Gang | Gallery | Iraqi Cards | Memorial | Migration | Graffiti | Resume| Injunctions Homicides | Maps | California Prisons | Contact

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