Pico Youth Center is an organization built around the idea of helping teenagers find a place after school to have a good social environment and enrich their education to help them do better in school. Founders of Pico Youth made it their mission to not only create a safe space for endangered teens to grow academically and socially, but also found a way to emphasize and incentivize staying on a clean path towards success. The purpose of this organization is to ensure that the minority youth of Santa Monica will stay off of the streets and involve themselves in beneficial activities that will promote their overall well-being.
During our visit to Pico Youth Center, we met with Oscar Del La Torre, the executive director of the agency. Oscar has a leading role at Pico Youth, as he oversees all operations of the organization, gathers funding, and works with all members of the organization to makes sure that the appropriate services are being provided. As a former Santa Monica resident, and a proud individual of Latino descent, Oscar saw a need for social change in the city. Growing up in Santa Monica, a predominantly white and wealthy neighborhood, he recalls the city’s failure to cater to the people of color who resided there. Oscar expressed that even the public school systems in Santa Monica were not always working in favor of these minorities. Often times school administrators (as well as law enforcement) would purposely target students of color as they were more likely to receive punishments and penalties for their misconduct than the rest of the community. With a masters degree in Public Administration and the drive to fight racial injustice and marginalization in the city, Oscar has dedicated his work to the youth of Santa Monica who are in need of his guidance. We asked Oscar if his job is rewarding for him and if he feels that it is for the other staff members as well. He tells us that what keeps him going is the reward of helping these teens build a bright future for themselves while supporting them and empowering them along the way. He is confident that the other staff members can say the same. He is proud to be able to give them these opportunities that he did not have as a young Latino growing up in Santa Monica, a city he could not find solidarity in. A lot of what Oscar expressed to us during our visit overlapped with themes brought up in Bryan Stevenson’s book Just Mercy. Our society is somehow constructed to unlawfully oppress low-income people of color and deny them aid when it is needed. It is up to to kind-hearted and skilled professionals (like Oscar) to help the oppressed fight this system of racism with the services they can provide.
The center was filled with commotion on the Tuesday afternoon that we visited. Pico Youth offers tutoring for the children to not only motivate them to do their schoolwork, but also to help them if they are struggling with their studies. Some children, however, were unruly and whining about doing their homework as the tutors did their very best to keep them engaged. At times, tutors would just wait patiently for students to ask for help, but none would show since they were preoccupied with playing around. Mary, the office manager scolded the children for playing on the computer before doing homework first. It was brought to our attention that the children know that they should do their homework, but they worry that they will look incompetent or “dumb” in front of the tutors. This may be one of the false and negative ideas instilled in youth from the school system or the community as a whole which hinders their growth and adds to their marginalization. We noticed lots of phone calls coming through in the office, but there not enough staff members to answer and keep the place running smoothly at the same time. Although the building seemed a bit hectic, these kids and teens had a safe place to be after school and were surrounded by caring individuals who actively promoted their well being.
Pico Youth is home to the very first recording studio in Santa Monica. Julian Ayala is the recording studio manager with a passion for music and helping the community. He would coordinate sessions with the teens after school and instruct them on how to write and perform songs. The recording studio was also set up with some musical instruments for the students to play as well. Most of the youth seemed to be highly involved with this aspect of the organization, since they saw music as an important personal artistic expression. This studio, along with a bunch of other forms of entertainment were readily available for the children at PYC which they are not exposed to outside of the agency. This keeps the children stimulated and happy, but also poses as a somewhat of distractions for them. We noticed that the teens were begging to use the recording room before addressing their educational responsibilities. The recording studio, which was setup to give the youth a safe and healthy space to release their frustrations through music is Pico Youth’s shining commodity, but also an inconvenience for the children who were in need of study time and required a quiet atmosphere.
We were pleased to see that the art on the walls around the PYC promote peace, success, equality, racial tolerance, social justice, and other motivational themes. Additionally, the artwork is colorful and inspiring. Some of the pieces depicted Cesar Chavez, Malcolm X and other great minority leaders who have made a huge impact on history as we know it. It is important for the youth to see faces like theirs in this sentiment so they are reminded that they too are capable of doing good and being successful. Living in a city which blatantly ignores the the need for attention and support towards the struggling minorities that live within it, the students of PYC are often only surrounded with the idea that they will fail. Teachers, police officers, and even other community members that differ from these kids in terms of race, class, and status, contribute to growing this false idea every single day.
Walking away from the visit, we concluded that aside from the commotion, everyone in PYC was a family. They all did their best to help one another out. Staff members made sure to get the children to feel comfortable around them, remain friendly with them, and reinforce PYC as a safe spaces at all times. The staff would keep an eye out for children who hang around the building and seem like they could get themselves into trouble. They make sure to drag them inside and have them participate in appropriate, clean fun. The leaders of Pico Youth are aware of how easy it is for the minority teens in Santa Monica to get involved in drug use, gang affiliation, and dangerous encounters with law enforcement. This welfare agency has come up with a way to not only sufficiently provide the services needed for the community, but it has also established itself as an organization which its beneficiary wants to be involved in. We were pleased to see that majority of the participants of PYC were willing participants and did not feel forced or uncomfortable being there. This showed that they responded well to the efforts of the organization and wanted to come back as often as possible.
One unfortunate aspect about social welfare programs is that they are less like to be funded by the city and the government unless they are exactly perfect. These agencies, along with the Pico Youth Center, are constantly being policed for perfection. These programs are funded conditionally so there is little room for error. There was a particular instance a staff member shared with us where PYC had a slight issue with filing their paperwork and the city of Santa Monica immediately pulled their funding. This organization relies on its funding to keep things in motion, and the battle to ensure that the money keeps rolling is one that does not end.
This program caters to underprivileged community members, and their staff are not certified social workers (except for the executives), nor do they have extensive education in social work. They are simply good people with sympathy for the community who are dedicated to making a change. We must spread the word about these programs and try to recruit professionals, like Jorja Leap, who used her expertise to facilitate and push Project Fatherhood in the right direction. Like the Fathers of Watts in Project Fatherhood, the participants of organization are willing participants. Although they are teens, they are grateful for the help they receive and try their best to cooperate as they offer ideas that would help grow PYC.
A lot of the teens who attend the Pico Youth Center share similar stories and struggles not only with one another, but also with the authors of the books we read. For instance: in Bryan Stevenson’s book, he shares the time that he got stopped and frisked by the police outside of his home for no reason. The youth of Santa Monica get stopped by police regularly although they are not engaging in any criminal or disruptive behavior, they are solely being targeted based off of their appearance. Like Cupcake Brown, many of the teens come from broken homes or single parent households. They often don’t have the familial support needed for a child to grow in a healthy way. Some of the kids complained that their parents would work two jobs and how they never saw them, which left them feeling neglected and emotionally malnourished.
Pico Youth Center is also very familiar with high school dropout rates and has made it one of their main goals working towards lowering it. They find education to be a very important American value that they are doing their best to reinforce. The youth center is not only a recreation center, but its core purpose is to motivate students academically as they help them do well in school and prepare them for college.
**Pico Youth is all about having that safe space after school in a controlled and supervised area. Pico Youth Center is the solution to many social problems that were happening before in the 90’s. In 1988, Santa Monica encountered a lot of shootings coming from gangs. The community in Santa Monica got together and wanted to do something about it. A peaceful rally was held to expose that Santa Monica should come together and ask for a change. Many teenagers were dying and it was reported that there were about 22 deaths from 98’ to 99’ along 16th street of Pico to 23rd street of Pico. Those streets held a ninety four percent rate of African American and Latinos living there. The rally that helped the process to get Santa Monica a safer place was called the Vigil of Peace on November 2nd 1988. A thousand people came and walked along the streets to let their voice be heard. The city saw the frustration people had over this social problem and started to do something about it. There was a public forum that was held so the community can speak their minds and they talked about all kinds of issues. They talked about gangs, poverty, economic struggles, and more. Pico Youth was opened in 2002 and helped a lot teenagers not to turn to violence. Many of the teens in Santa Monica died (either from depression, gang violence, wrong place wrong time). The leaders of this organization wanted to ensure that the children stay out of trouble and off the streets. They assure the kids that they are loved and supported by trying to combat depressive feelings. These huge tragedies leave the teens in the community feeling devastated and they come together to raise funds for the families of lost ones and know that changes must be made. Gangs decreased in statistics in Santa Monica which was such a public eye opener. This program is specifically open during after school hours till around 8 or 9 pm. The founder who started Pico Youth is named Oscar de la Torre who is such an incredible person to talk to and he still works there. Pico Youth made the community a better place since crime rates and violence came down.
**Pico Youth mostly relies on donors now to keep them up and running. At first they were offered money from the city to keep them going but years later when it was time to give them the proper paperwork of their assets it went downhill. They didn’t have the paperwork the city needed so they started to pull their funding, since they couldn’t prove where the money was going. Students need to sign in now everytime they walk in and out of the door so they know how many students usually uses the center. PYC needed to come up with another plan, two fundraisers which is done yearly. The first fundraiser is called the Art’s of Heart, which just happened on March 2nd 2018 being their 9th annual. This includes food, free wine tasting, free tequila tasting, music, and more for 25 dollars a ticket or 40 dollars for couples. The students help out with this gala but cutting out wood shaped hearts and decorating them as decorations. The second fundraiser they have is called the “Yearly Gala” which is the more expensive one and is hosted at a hotel in the Marina. They have auctions with amazing prizes like restaurant gift cards, spas, cruises, and more. This year was there 10th annual on January 21st and each ticket is about 100 dollars. These two fundraisers help keep Pico Youth up and running. Starting this past school year a homeschool down the street called “The Realm” needed more space to hold there classes so they started paying Pico Youth to use there center during the day when no one is using it. This is another way they started to get funding this past year to help Pico Youth.
Pico Youth offers many services that helps a student try to reach their full potential. One of those services are the daily tutors that volunteer on a weekly basis. Most of those tutors are college students trying to get community service but also are really passionate to help high schoolers do better in their classes. As we arrived at Pico Youth we quickly gathered that everyone’s favorite resource was the recording studio. Once a week, Julian, who is in charge of the studio holds a seminar to create rap songs. Every so often they make flyers to tell people Pico Youth is holding an open mic night. This is where participants can share what they created. The idea of this instead if using violence on the streets they rap about their problems and it makes a huge difference. Other resources are the 10 computers they have so students can use the internet in a safe environment and get their homework done. They have a kitchen which students come in to have a snack during the time they are at the center. Everything that Pico Youth provides is such a great environment to be around because everyone is so friendly with one another and you can tell this center makes a difference.
PYC feels like a second home to a lot of these students because many of them come from tough home situations and this is a place you can come to, to feel safe. It is important that teenagers have great role models they can look up to because these are the years that shape their lives. Many of the students we would talk to would have their single mom work two to three jobs to make ends meet. Relating this to Project Fatherhood, many fathers weren’t around for their kids. Having people influence them like the people who work there or tutor there exposes them with inspiration that they can succeed in life. This small community within PYC teaches kindness and patience. I don’t think a lot of people know about PYC because I (Shirley) went to Santa Monica High School for four years which is located around the block from PYC and never heard about them. I think they can do a better job at advertising it within the school maybe come to some classes and speak to them. What we think they do to help is give their information to some counselors knowing they have tutoring after school so teens who are struggling can go there for help. But besides that I never found out about Pico Youth Center in high school. I wish I had because this is such an awarding experience.
As we approached many students they asked us about our college lives about UCLA. We gave them a general background about how we got there (both being transfers from community college). When I asked one of the students about their college plans, they said “ I don’t think I can get into any college with my grades and honestly I am just not smart enough for college”, this broke our hearts. We gave her advice on how everyone is smart it is just putting the time and effort on learning what you need to know for her class. We both ended up at community college which is where we got our act together to come to a great school like UCLA. We have had very similar experiences with the sophomore we were speaking to but that she should not give up and should give tutoring a try. She goes to Pico Youth for the environment of her friends being there but none of them take advantage of the tutoring. Hopefully she took our advice to heart and went to tutoring.
Pico Youth is a place where people from all backgrounds come together and share similar experiences. Pico youth initially opened to end violence and minimize gangs in Santa Monica. Now it is more than that for these students who attend PYC. Pico Youth is amazing and creative space to get together. Everyone who goes there has a story but it is up to them if they want to make that change. Thank god for places like Pico Youth and we hope this stays open for many years to come.