Chamber and Big Brothers Try to Get Their Act Together

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

March 10 -- A program to mentor 100 at-risk youths has yet to get off the ground, nearly a year after the Chamber of Commerce took on the commitment at a conference on gang violence headed by State Senator Sheila Kuehl, the Lookout has learned.

The idea was to bring the local chamber together with the Los Angeles area Big Brothers organization -- a non profit which mentors at risk and neglected youth -- to beef up an existing program hosted at John Adams Middle School.

But plans fell through last year after a Santa Monica-based national business -- a member of the local chamber-- pulled out of giving seed money for the project, according to John Kobara, president and CEO of the Greater Los Angeles Big Brothers and Big Sisters program in an interview Wednesday.

Kobara said it would take between $10,000 and $25,000 to launch the program.

At $1,000 per student for services, Kobara said his organization was willing to work with the school district to implement a scaled back version of the program at first.

“That’s something we never do, but in this case, we were willing to,” said Kobara.

No explanation was given by the company, said Kobara, who declined to name the business. Big Brothers and Big Sisters had to call the City to find out that the deal was off, he said.

"The ball got dropped, somebody got distracted, and then we were told that the money wasn't there," Kobara said.

The idea, said Kobara, was to augment the Valued Youth Program -- which was established at the school among 30 kids after the last gang conference in April 2005.

Valued Youth gives middle schoolers the opportunity to act as mentors to elementary school children and is modeled after a national initiative. (see story)

The mentoring program offered by Big Brothers and Big Sisters would have paired the middle schoolers with adults, many of whom would have been selected from volunteers at the Chamber of Commerce and Junior Chamber of Commerce.

After several discussions and good-faith gestures, Kobara even joined the Santa Monica Chamber to become better acquainted with its members. They seemed to be close to a deal, when the floor fell out, he said.

In interviews with the Lookout, City and Chamber officials characterized the failure as lack of resources or funds to finance both Valued Youth and Big Brothers, but didn’t specifically mention the failed deal between Kobara and the business.

But all of that is water under the bridge, according to Chamber of Commerce CEO Kathy Dodson and the City's spokesperson, Judy Franz.

"We have the mentors lined up... and we look forward to working with Big Brothers and Sisters at Virginia Avenue Park," Dodson said of the park opened last December that will likely be a hub of programs and non-profits aimed at improving the Pico Neighborhood.

Franz, too, said the City is "looking forward to working with the chamber to recruit mentors" and that "Virginia Park is a great place for coordinating that program."

However, Kobara said that Big Brothers and Big Sisters had not been informed of any arrangement with the Chamber of Commerce to mentor kids at the Park.

"That's news headlines to us here," Kobara said of the arrangement, "although we would gladly welcome it.

"We always need financial support, but the human capital would be invaluable to us right now as well," he said.

Although several months ago, Kobara's group had a reserve of mentor volunteers, he said the organization is now operating at a deficit.

A one-year progress report on Santa Monica’s efforts to curb gang violence will be heard at a community forum hosted by State Senator Sheila Kuehl, March 18, from 10 a.m. to noon at John Adams Middle School.

The meeting will also include opportunities for public input and discussion of the next steps to be taken. To RSVP or for more information, contact Hilda Garcia at (310) 441-9084 or e-mail hilda.garcia@sen.ca.gov