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| Sgt. Brian Doyle and volunteers with the PRIDE Program visit a rescue mission in Downtown LA |
Note: Los Cerritos Community News Reporter Randy
Economy is following the journey of two dozen teens that are enrolled in the
highly successful PRIDE Program here in Norwalk. This is the first installment
of an ongoing series.
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| Los Angeles Clipper Team Pastor talks to Norwalk youth at Pride Program. |
By
Rand Economy
Reporter
Los Cerritos Community News
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| The harsh reality of life on the streets in LA. |
Norwalk
Sheriff’s Sergeant Brian Doyle looks down at his clip board at a list of names
of 20 youngsters whose very young lives are in danger of ending before they
really begin.
Doyle,
who has piercing eyes and carries himself with confidence and determination,
speaks from the heart trying to get eye contact with a 14 year old boy who has
already been introduced to the criminal justice system, for all the wrong
reason.
Doyle
is on a mission, along with a group dedicated volunteers and members of the
Clergy to help turn the lives of nearly two dozen boys and girls who sit
nervously in front of him in a church class room off of Studebaker and Excelsior.
“Some
of you are going to end up dead before you turn 18,” Doyle says sternly. Then he pauses, “for others, you will be in
and out of jail before you are 21, eventually hooked on drugs and alcohol, and living
a life than no one deserves.” Doyle, speaks from experience, he has seen it all
during this long career in law enforcement.
“I am
here to help save your life, and so are countless others who want you to live a
long and happy life,” he proclaims. “All
we need is to show you if you keep making the wrong that your actions and
choice
Doyle
oversees the PRIDE Program for the Norwalk Sheriff’s Department. It is in its fourth year of existence. “Our hope is that the PRIDE program is the tools
that will help our young participants realize that they are the ones who set
the course of their lives now,” he said.
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| Sgt. Brian Doyle: Driving force behind PRIDE |
The
PRIDE Program is a faith based and the presence of a higher power is felt
inside the church classroom where the program is located at a Norwalk church
located at the corner of Studebaker Road and Excelsior.
“Many
dedicated clergy members from the community work hand to hand with the teens
that are enrolled in PRIDE,” Doyle said.
“We need to bring Faith and hope to these families who are in crisis.”
The
program runs more than a dozen weeks, and is offered twice a year, and is designed
to educate kids between the ages of 12-16 of the choices they are making in
life and the road those choices are going to lead them.
Parents, grandparents, guardians of teens work together with members of the PRIDE Team that also includes several current members of the Norwalk Sheriff’s Department who see day in and day out the challenges of raising children in an ever changing environment.
Parents, grandparents, guardians of teens work together with members of the PRIDE Team that also includes several current members of the Norwalk Sheriff’s Department who see day in and day out the challenges of raising children in an ever changing environment.
Captain
Pat Maxwell of the Norwalk station is a staunch support and leader in the PRIDE
Program, and he regularly attends the sessions and gets to know the youngsters
“beyond a first name basis.”
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| HOPE: A volunteers plays piano at a Skid Row Church |
Maxwell
and Doyle, along with Norwalk City Councilman Luigi Vernola, and longtime
influential community leader Frank Napoliano, the husband of United States
Representative are driven to make PRIDE a “positive influence in our society.”
Vernola
and Napolitano and many other PRIDE supporters regularly plan, host and stage
fundraising events to help off-set the expenses involved in the non-government
funded program.
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| PRIDE participants cleans church pews on Skid Row |
“A major challenge for us as parents is to
combat these negative influences on our children,” Vernola told Los Cerritos
Community News.
Many of the teens that are currently enrolled in the current PRIDE Program have already begun to make some bad choices in school, friends, or activities. Some have already been involved with law enforcement, as a result of might already be on probation for committing a criminal act.
PRIDE exposes teens to harsh realities and interacts with those who see firsthand the problems many face on a daily basis.
Many of the teens that are currently enrolled in the current PRIDE Program have already begun to make some bad choices in school, friends, or activities. Some have already been involved with law enforcement, as a result of might already be on probation for committing a criminal act.
PRIDE exposes teens to harsh realities and interacts with those who see firsthand the problems many face on a daily basis.
The
teens have been visited by a Superior Court Judge who deals with juvenile
crimes, a Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney, a school district
truant officer, and even the spiritual advisor to the Los Angeles Clippers.
But
some of the most sobering moments took place this past weekend when the
youngsters and their mentors saw firsthand what it is like to live on the mean
streets of Downtown Los Angeles with a visit to Skid Row.
They
visited the famed Emanuel First Baptist Church and Rescue Mission where they
spent the day cleaning church pews, scrubbing floors, and walls, and helped
inside a soup kitchen. The group also walked many hand-in-hand to see how daily
life is for the thousands who now live, sleep and eats on the sidewalks, and
who stand in lines for hours just to get a meal.
The
many homeless men and women, yell at the PRIDE students while on their Skid Row
walk. “Don’t end up like we do,” one man in his 60’s yells. “Get off the dope, stay in school, and don’t
hang with people who are going to bring you down.”
The
screams and taunts continue under the heat of the day and it is beginning to
show on their faces. “This is just 15
miles away from Norwalk, but it is a world away,” one of the 15 year olds
exclaim.
Then
the group is stopped by a young girl, around the age of 14 who is at least
seven months pregnant, and homeless, and walking around in a “daze.”
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| Photo by Chente Ramirez for Los Cerritos Community News |
The group is stopped by a young girl, around
the age of 14 who is at least seven months pregnant, and homeless, and walking
around in a “daze.”
“Do
you have any money?” the expected teen mom asks one of the 16 year old girls
from a Norwalk area high school? “I
haven’t eaten in three days, and I need money.”
The
group continues down the path on Skid Row, forever having the sights, sounds
and the stench embedded in their young minds.
“I
never want to end up here,” one of the boys tells Sgt. Doyle.
Also visit Los Cerritos Community News at www.LosCerritosNews.net
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