Youth Jobs Awareness Project

In the year since Reginald and Renea Morris started the Youth Jobs Awareness Project, nearly 1,000 teen-agers and young adults have found temporary and permanent jobs throughout Los Angeles County. This summer, the program will help place an additional 104 young people in jobs at eight projects, including an adopt-a-block beautification program, a journalism internship at the jobs organization and a tree-planting project in the city.

More than a year after he became a hero for saving two motorists at the corner of Florence and Normandie avenues during last year's riots, Reginald Morris returned to the fateful corner Sunday, this time amid a cheering crowd instead of an angry mob. With the throbbing bass of hip-hop music and the thumping drums of a South Los Angeles marching band, Morris launched a 641-mile "Job Walk" to Sacramento, where he plans to appeal to Gov. Pete Wilson to spend more state funds on youth employment.

On Thursday, it will be six months since the city erupted after four Los Angeles police officers were acquitted in the Rodney G. King beating trial. For many, the rage of the riots gave way to determination, whether that meant fighting the system, finding jobs for youths or focusing on urgent community needs. Youth Jobs Program--Making It Work Reginald and Renea Morris consider shutting down their Youth Jobs Awareness Project almost daily--just cutting the phone line and locking the door.

In the year since Reginald and Renea Morris started the Youth Jobs Awareness Project, nearly 1,000 teen-agers and young adults have found temporary and permanent jobs throughout Los Angeles County. This summer, the program will help place an additional 104 young people in jobs at eight projects, including an adopt-a-block beautification program, a journalism internship at the jobs organization and a tree-planting project in the city.

More than a year after he became a hero for saving two motorists at the corner of Florence and Normandie avenues during last year's riots, Reginald Morris returned to the fateful corner Sunday, this time amid a cheering crowd instead of an angry mob. With the throbbing bass of hip-hop music and the thumping drums of a South Los Angeles marching band, Morris launched a 641-mile "Job Walk" to Sacramento, where he plans to appeal to Gov. Pete Wilson to spend more state funds on youth employment.

Pepsico plans to hire 300 young people in riot-affected areas of Los Angeles through a job fair Friday and Saturday in collaboration with the Youth Jobs Awareness Project. It is the project's first major event since the organization's formation six weeks ago to link companies with prospective employees from neighborhoods in South Los Angeles. The sponsoring Pepsico units--Frito-Lay, KFC, Pepsi-Cola, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell--will be filling both full-time and part-time jobs.

Ignoring swollen feet and the constant buzz of speeding traffic on Pacific Coast Highway, Reginald Morris walked into Ventura County on Wednesday in the early stages of a 58-day journey from Los Angeles to Sacramento. Hailed as a hero for saving the lives of two motorists at the corner of Florence and Normandie avenues during the Los Angeles riots last year, Morris launched a 641-mile "Job Walk" last Sunday to call attention to the need for youth employment in major California cities.

Allison Meadow, an 18-year-old student at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, keeps getting offers for summer jobs, even though she has a good one at a clothing store in the Topanga Plaza shopping center. "Everywhere I go, people try to recruit me," said the ebullient senior, who is saving for college. "People come in my store, (and) when I go into other clothing stores, people ask me if I want to work for them."

On Thursday, it will be six months since the city erupted after four Los Angeles police officers were acquitted in the Rodney G. King beating trial. For many, the rage of the riots gave way to determination, whether that meant fighting the system, finding jobs for youths or focusing on urgent community needs. Youth Jobs Program--Making It Work Reginald and Renea Morris consider shutting down their Youth Jobs Awareness Project almost daily--just cutting the phone line and locking the door.