Community Service Programs

Guadalupe Lopez and her teenage daughters are not homeless, but for the last week they've gathered their belongings and slept on the floor of a neighborhood community center in Pomona. The Lopezes and about 20 other families are protesting the closure of a place they consider their second home. "They can't get rid of us so easily," Lopez said. "This is the only way we'll get their attention."

To graduate from college, Tracy Burke spent time in a halfway house for female felons. Alicia Gregory filled grocery bags at a food bank. Tiana Trutna taught elementary students how to grow vegetables for their school cafeteria. Here at Cal State Monterey Bay, it's required work. To the university, it's an essential part of an education. But some educators elsewhere say required community service squanders precious education dollars -- and time.

Federal auditors are calling for USC to pay back more than $1 million in government funds because of the university's lapses in managing a program to train HIV/AIDS counselors for minority communities. USC's program was shut down by federal officials in 2001 in response to concerns about conflict of interest, improper research procedures and misuse of federal funds.

In a former life, one with a steady job and a permanent roof over his head, Michael Yost was aware of the relief effort known as Stand Down. He knew it was designed to get homeless military veterans back on their feet. He just never imagined he would be one of them. But in recent months, the 50-year-old father of four has lost his driver's license, his job and his home.

The door to apartment No. 3 popped open and kids spilled through with backpacks bumping and sneakers churning as they flew up the stairs or dashed through the living room. They don't live at 561 9th St. in Azusa, but the place has the feel of home and the children couldn't wait to start their homework. The apartment is Our Neighborhood Homework House, a Christian-based nonprofit tutoring organization located in the middle of the residential neighborhood it serves.

An Oakland volunteer center that helped distribute government money to youth groups and community programs for 25 years will undergo a city audit over allegations that it misused public money. The Volunteer Center of Alameda County, which had offices in Oakland and Pleasanton, filed for bankruptcy in late December.

After a dozen years of toil, now comes the hard part: selecting three from the pool of 16 mentally disabled applicants to live in California's first L'Arche community. As an international movement, L'Arche communities match disabled adults with assistants in Christian-influenced homes to share life as family and friends. "L'Arche" means "the ark" in French, a reference to Noah's Ark, which provided refuge from the storm. The Rev.

The good news for Rose Espinoza's husband is that he can finally use his garage. Perhaps not as good for dozens of students in La Habra is that Rosie's Garage, a nationally recognized tutoring program, has moved from the humble home location where it began 12 years ago. After helping hundreds of children, the after-school homework-help program was moved out of her Corona Park neighborhood last week because of mounting concerns over the possibility of lawsuits and insurance liability.

Long Beach Unified School District, the state's third-largest school district, this week adopted a requirement that students complete 40 hours of community service for high school graduation. District officials stress that Long Beach's program, which will go into effect for the class of 2007, will be connected to classroom objectives or to a school's extracurricular activities rather than simply tracking the time a student spends picking up trash.

A Valley Community Services Center, which will provide code enforcement and rent-control services for residents, will open today. Valley renters can file complaints over code and rent-control violations, and property owners can pay fees and register their properties under the rent stabilization ordinance at the new office, 6640 Van Nuys Blvd., said Matt Szabov, a spokesman for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.