View this short video clip that will introduce you to Homeboy:
The organization was conceived of and established by Father Gregory Boyle. LISTEN to this informative NPR interview with Father Boyle.
Father Boyle has written this best selling book which is filled with heart-rendering stories about the gang members in his community. You can't stop reading as the author moves from one amazing story after another that fill you with sadness and humor. CLICK on the image of the book (below) to read a literature review for Tattoos on the Heart:
I purchased a copy for each of the Learning Assistance Center staff to read. Father Boyle personalized each copy with his signature. As a staff development assignment I asked the staff to all read the book in time for our first meeting upon my return to work from sabbatical. You'll notice there are discussion questions offered at the end of the literature review. I might use some of these to stimulate a group discussion. In our learning center we are often faced with dealing with difficult students. Father Boyle gives us numerous examples of how he deals with extremely challenging people, without denying anyone opportunities to fix their troubled lives. I think this will provide for an excellent staff development workshop on dealing with challenging people in a multicultural learning environment.
In December I was invited to present to a group of students at Homeboys on the topic of multiple intelligences and brain-based learning. For this workshop I asked Robert Hernandez to co-present. Robert was a student at Pasadena City College and I was his mentor through Project LEAP on campus. Read his story (below) from the Fall 2008 PCC Campus report:
In December I was invited to present to a group of students at Homeboys on the topic of multiple intelligences and brain-based learning. For this workshop I asked Robert Hernandez to co-present. Robert was a student at Pasadena City College and I was his mentor through Project LEAP on campus. Read his story (below) from the Fall 2008 PCC Campus report:
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| Robert Hernandez |
Making the Grade
Alumni/Foundation Update
Alumnus Robert Hernandez Draws from His Experiences at PCC to Help Others
Confusion and humiliation, followed by a growing feeling of rejection, were pushing Robert Hernandez toward a wasted life. His first stint as a student at Pasadena City College was a disaster. “During my first days at PCC, I was going through a lot of emotions, and I didn’t have any confidence,” says the 37-year-old Hernandez. “I had trouble with drugs and alcohol. I didn’t know what I wanted. Some of my friends were coming back from universities with degrees, but the circle I was in was getting me nowhere.” He failed a few classes, did poorly in others, and his grade point average quickly sunk. An all-around sense of failure was taking over. Eventually, Hernandez ended up on academic probation, and received a letter from the school advising he had better reconsider his academic goals. He then quit PCC altogether.
One day, he received something in the mail that got his attention: a handout illustrating the mentoring services offered by PCC’s Project LEAP program. Designed to increase the retention rate of probationary, under-represented, and returning students, Project LEAP (Links to Educational Achievement and Progress) matches students one-on-one with volunteer mentors who meet with them once a week.
“Suddenly, I had a moment of clarity,” Hernandez says. “I decided to sober up and really started to assess where my life was going.” Hernandez then met John Wood, director of the PCC Learning Assistant Center and a mentor for Project LEAP. “When I met John, I was feeling humiliated, rejected, and I needed direction. I knew I wanted to go to college but didn’t know how to go about it,” Hernandez recalls. “John had a non-judgmental approach with me. He linked me with the appropriate resources and wonderful tutors who nurtured me through the process of re-enrolling in school and pursuing my academic goals.”
With the support of Project LEAP, the once-struggling student soon became an academic success story: in two years, Hernandez managed to complete his associate degree, and then transferred to San Jose State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Wood remembers Hernandez as a bright student who just needed guidance. “It was easy being Robert’s mentor through Project LEAP,” Wood says. “He had all the skills and intelligence to succeed in college. He just didn’t know it at the time. All I had to do was point it out to him.” In the spring of this year, Hernandez completed his master’s degree in social work from USC.
Hernandez is currently the director of Performance Management at Communities in School, an organization based in North Hills, Calif. devoted to stopping gang violence. As director, Hernandez’s primary goals are to teach teenagers work skills, rebuild their self-esteem, and provide the support system troubled youth often seek in a gang. “My passion is working with youth, particularly troubled youth, and those who have the most challenges in life,” says Hernandez, who was born and raised in El Sereno, Calif. “I came from the same community as many of them come from, and I experienced some of the hardships they can connect with.”
Hernandez is also spearheading “Justice Assistant Grant,” or JAG, a program funded by the Los Angeles mayor’s office, to assist troubled youth between ages 12 and 18. “These teenagers are the most challenging and most vulnerable people. They already have problems with the school or the police, or both. We listen and engage the kids in the process. They need to have a vested interest in our community,” he says.
The program contains a three-month curriculum that addresses the teenagers’ biological, psychological, and social needs. Another key component of the JAG program is a seven- week paid internship designed to help teenagers see the results of their training. “They get paid as they apply what they are learning, all while rebuilding their self esteem. We assess their internal strengths to increase their self esteem, and we redirect their skills. The ultimate goal is to lead them to self-sufficiency,” he says.
Hernandez is certainly grateful of the value of good programs. He credits PCC for changing his life. “With the appropriate people and programs, PCC had an everlasting impression in my life. The college and Project LEAP provided an opportunity to instill hope at a time of dejection and rejection,” he says. “I’m forever indebted to PCC for who I am today.”
