UCLA alumna Laura Mariscal once worked with a child who was having trouble at home.
He was 14 and already drinking and doing drugs, Mariscal said.
Gangs were a “huge issue” in his community.
“It was very tough because he wasn’t responsive to anything,” she said. “Most of the time, he was very disrespectful.”
Mariscal, who graduated from UCLA in 2007, remembers first volunteering at age 15. She continued at UCLA, and now she maintains her hobby of service postgraduation.
“I’ve never stopped,” she said.
Part of the AmeriCorps program, City Year provides small stipends to people age 17 to 24 across the country who are interested in serving in underprivileged communities and schools.
The “Opening Day Ceremony” commenced the program, allowing Mariscal and those with a similar passion for service to make a change, she said.
The 150 new participants in Los Angeles were presented by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Superintendent Ramon Cortines at City Hall on Wednesday.
Philip Javellana, the brand and communications manager for the program, added that it was followed with a trip to Christopher Dena Elementary School in Boyle Heights, where the newly pledged City Year corps members painted murals and planted flowers.
“I’ve always worked with youth,” Mariscal said. “I started as a peer counselor with my church community.”
Mariscal looked to a long life of volunteering, she said, after that first interaction helping those in need. It was when the troubled student she worked with in high school returned to her church program the following year that her volunteering became concrete.
“He came back, meaning that I had made a difference,” she said.
The year of service pledged by Mariscal and others allows young people to help those around Los Angeles, according to Javellana. He said it’s a nonprofit program “founded on the belief that young people can change the world.”
Members of City Year are among 1,500 others across the country. The Los Angeles members, in particular, will focus on aiding at-risk students in elementary, middle and high schools to improve attendance, behavior and coursework, Javellana said.
Daniel Ochoa, also a UCLA alumnus, is working with a bit of a younger audience. Ochoa, who graduated last year, started going to his assigned school last week to recruit for the after-school program he’ll help to implement.
“We did a “˜power greeting’ ““ a powerful way of cheering the kids on and getting them excited,” he said.
That’s when the first challenge presented itself, he said.
“That’s when a lot of kids are hesitant,” Ochoa added. “They might be embarrassed, but when they get involved and they can see they can be a part of us and our organization, that’s when they get excited.”
This transformation, of seeing a student switch from a “too cool” attitude, has helped reinforce Ochoa’s decision to join City Year after graduating.
“That made me see the impact we can have and the excitement. … It reinforced the reason that we’re here,” he said.
Any students interested in applying to City Year can apply through AmeriCorps or through the City Year Web site.