By John Gordon*
Oct. 31, 2007 | SALINAS, Calif. (UMNS)

When Pastor Frank Gomez first arrived at his church on the central California coast, he was sometimes afraid to stay in the building alone.

"(Salinas was) a hotbed of gang activity — many shootings," he says.

Eight years later, the environment has changed dramatically at the La Sagrada Familia United Methodist Church of Salinas. The church is now a safe haven for children seeking help with their homework after school. In the process, they learn about alternatives to joining street gangs.

The ministry began after an 8-year-old boy asked Gomez' wife, Sandra, for help with his homework.

"His parents couldn't speak English and they weren't able to help him at all," recalls Mrs. Gomez. "So I told him to come and bring it and I would help him."

Word quickly spread through the neighborhood. Soon, about 10 children were showing up at the church for tutoring. The resulting after-school ministry, aimed at students in the second through eighth grades, has grown to an enrollment today of more than 50 students — and a waiting list.

A Christian alternative

Students come to the church for help from volunteer tutors and Mrs. Gomez, who serves as site director for the program. There's also time for outdoor activities. 

The church project became part of the non-profit LIFE (Life is for Everyone Inc.) after-school program in Salinas. Besides offering homework help, it is recognized locally for steering children away from street gangs.

Pressure to join gangs comes at an early age. Children as young as age 9 are recruited by local groups.

Sixth-grader Dan Chavez, 11, says he's felt the pressure, but that being at church after school has helped. "It's helped me do the right things because, before, I used to be in the streets hanging out with way bigger guys than me in the park," he says. "One time, they were inviting me to do drugs."

Armando, a former gang member, asked to be identified only by his first name. He says gangs offer youth acceptance that "perhaps you don't get it at home." Now 43, Armando has spent nearly half of his life in jail, prison and youth facilities.

“It's helped me do the right things because, before, I used to be in the streets hanging out with way bigger guys than me in the park.”–Dan Chavez, 11

"The average individual don't know nothing about gangs until maybe their house is burglarized, maybe they're carjacked, or maybe the bank that they worked at was robbed and it was robbed by a gang or something like that," he says. "But it's something that, unfortunately, is getting out of hand."

Mrs. Gomez says the church's ministry offers a different kind of acceptance from the gang-land style.

"Here they know they're loved," she says. "My husband and I are like the father and mother. We've been called their second mother or second father. We provide love. No matter what, they know they're loved."

Making a difference

Also part of the curriculum is learning respect for others.

Stefany Delgado, 8, enjoys the healthy snacks and homework encouragement. "They show us manners. We don't speak when other people are talking," she says.

Pastor Gomez, who serves on a citizens' committee that is making recommendations on reducing violence in Salinas, says it is difficult to predict how many children in the after-school ministry might have drifted toward gangs.  But he says he can measure success.

"What we can say is that of all the children that have passed through this program, none of the children that we know of have gotten involved in gangs or into trouble with the law," he says.  "It definitely makes every effort and every hour worthwhile."

*Gordon is a freelance writer and producer in Marshall, Texas.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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