AmeriCorps Volunteers Tutor, Teach, Lead

By: SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- Hunched over an addition worksheet earlier this week, 19-year-old Justin Rodriguez counted out numbers on his fingers, showing his 7-year-old partner how math homework and problems can be made easier by breaking them down.

From one three-digit addition problem to the next, the duo worked through the sheet.

"It's fun," a shy, 7-year-old Fernando Perez said, taking a break from his studies. " ... They're helping."

At nearby tables, two additional teenage tutors coached about a dozen other elementary and middle school-aged students through reading, writing and math assignments.

Five days a week, for three hours a day, the three AmeriCorps members set up shop in the heart of the Cobblestone Village, an Escondido affordable housing complex.

There, they provide free mentoring, homework assistance and counseling to any of the 50 kids who live in the complex and surrounding neighborhood through a program funded by Escondido Education COMPACT ---- which stands for "creating opportunities, making partnerships and connecting teens" ---- and the Hope through Housing Foundation.

"We're getting them thinking," Rodriguez said, noting that topics of discussion range from rehashing elementary school math to discussing healthy living and safe sex. "We have the knowledge and experience to share."

The program is just one of three after-school programs run in affordable housing apartment communities in Escondido and San Marcos, and a handful of other education-geared projects offered by AmeriCorps members locally.

AmeriCorps is a federally funded program that gives people of all ages job experience and training through public service in education, public safety, health and the environment. In return, AmeriCorps members receive an $11,100 living allowance and $4,725 in scholarships or funds to help pay student loans.

Last month, California AmeriCorps granted the local chapter a $275,432 grant for another year of programming.

"That's huge for us," said Patty Huerta, the executive director of COMPACT, which coordinates the local AmeriCorps chapter with the help of community partners, including the city, the Escondido Union School District and the Salvation Army.

Huerta added that without the annual California AmeriCorps grant it would be impossible to keep the small, volunteer network afloat. The general operating budget for the program runs close to $443,000 ---- with the remaining money being chipped in by the program's service partners.

The money, Huerta said, pays for 25 full-time AmeriCorp members and their work tutoring Valley High school students on the California High School Exit Exam material, coordinating volunteer projects and services for adults and teens in the community, and running an after-school education workshop at The Salvation Army for juveniles who have been in trouble with the law.

"It's one of these programs that really understands how small a community is," said Luis Hernandez, 24, an AmeriCorps member who facilitates adult community education and volunteer projects.

"You go to work in your own community, and you really get to enact that change," Hernandez added.