Councilman Robert Garcia, left, interviews Gricelle Hernandez, 8, and her brother, Freddy, 10, for LBTV following an event Wednesday announcing the launch of the Long Beach Youth Alliance.
UPDATE 4:47pm | Roberto Hernandez, 11, and his younger brother and sister, Freddy, 10, and Gricelle, 8, are all participants in the various programs offered by the newly formed Long Beach Youth Alliance.
The trio, along with their parents and two older siblings, live just down the street from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where the family worships.
Prior to the formation of the alliance, they attended programs previously offered at St. Luke’s after school, including the boxing and tutoring programs. Now, since the alliance was launched, they are also able to attend Rising Tide, a four-day-a-week after school program where youth receive one-on-one help with homework, read with partners, eat healthy snacks, learn how to make good life choices, engage in safe play with friends, play educational computer games, participate in cultural enrichment clubs, experiment in a science center and more.
“I’m really glad,” Roberto Hernandez said with a smile when asked what he thought about the new alliance. “These programs are so awesome. It’s really fun. You get to play sports … . They teach us.
“This year, with the help of the church programs, I turned my grades around and really started to enjoy school,” the 11-year-old continued. He is headed to his first year of middle school in the fall.
Freddy Hernandez said the boxing program, dubbed “Keep It Real.,” is his favorite.
“I like the boxing program because it teaches you about violence and how its not good to be violent,” he told the Post. “And whenever you are hurt or sad, you can talk to them (program volunteers) about it.”
Gricelle Hernandez, or “Gricie,” said she likes Rising Tide because she gets to play basketball and hang out with other kids her own age.
1:21pm | In the face of “unprecedented need,” eight Long Beach churches have united to form the Long Beach Youth Alliance, which offers 13 free, family-friendly after-school programs for local youth.
The alliance’s mission is to provide safe, nurturing environments for Long Beach youth outside of school.
Member churches are all located downtown and include Covenant Presbyterian, First Congregational, First Friends, First Lutheran, Celebration, Neighborhood Methodist, St. Luke’s Episcopal and Trinity Lutheran churches.
Andrew Kishman, a community outreach coordinator at St. Luke’s, said the churches are looking past their ideological differences in order to serve a greater cause — providing services to low-income, at-risk youth in downtown Long Beach.
The Rev. Robert Langworthy, pastor at Covenant Presbyterian, said that above all else, the pastors involved in the alliance are “concerned about the threat of gang recruitment to youth who cannot find constructive uses of their time” during the period between the school day’s end and their parents return home from work.
The alliance was officially announced Wednesday morning outside of St. Luke’s. City Councilman Robert Garcia, in whose district the various churches are located, attended the event and described the alliance as “a great example of how nonprofits and faith communities can help fill gaps created by the state budget cuts.”
The state’s perpetual fiscal woes have massacred education funding throughout the state, and after-school programs have taken a big hit.
But representatives from several of the member churches on hand Wednesday morning stressed that the alliance formed in response to more than just budget cuts.
“I think the reason behind what’s happening here today is that we are seeing unprecedented need,” said Cynthia “Wally” Hoeger, director of Children and Youth Ministries at First Congregational Church of Long Beach. “Its not just about budget cuts.”
Programs offered include a free, six-week summer day camp, academic mentoring for middle- and high-school-aged youth, a Saturday morning recreational program, an art program, a teen social club, a tutoring program, a college-bound program, a hip-hop dancing group and a youth boxing program, among others.
Currently more than 1,000 youth are involved in the various programs. The alliance would like to serve additional youths, but is in need of additional volunteers before it can do so. Anyone interested in volunteering should send and e-mail to [email protected].
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Freddy Hernandez, 10, is interviewed by Councilman Robert Garcia for LBTV following an event Wednesday announcing the launch of the Long Beach Youth Alliance.