High-Risk Teens Put on ‘Hope Agenda’

Robert Arias isn’t a doctor, but he is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help high-risk teenagers find jobs, self-esteem and community advocates to back them up.

Arias, 47, is president of Communities in Schools, a private, nonprofit organization that works in concert with the Los Angeles Unified School District and a variety of businesses and community organizations to provide hope to some of the city’s most desperate kids.

Founded in 1977 by Bill Milliken, a longtime advocate for troubled teens, Communities in Schools offers a number of programs, including career training, youth leadership opportunities and rehabilitation for kids on probation.

A major goal of the organization is to combat the ever-increasing high school dropout rate and the cycle of poverty and violence associated with it.

“Children need an opportunity to flourish,” Arias said. “We want the public and private sector to join hands to help youth. We help ourselves when we help these kids.”

To facilitate job opportunities, Arias helped spearhead the successful Business/Entrepreneurial Academy, established at Universal CityWalk in January.

Using the entertainment giant’s UCLA Extension facility at CityWalk, 33 students from San Fernando and Fremont high schools attend afternoon classes in business management every Wednesday. The teens also work 16 hours a week at minimum-wage jobs, where they are mentored by CityWalk merchants.

In the second semester, the students will operate their own kiosks at the bustling shopping mecca.

“I like the program,” said 19-year-old Daby Lopez, a student from Fremont High School’s alternative school. “My mentor encouraged me to finish my homework every day and helped me with my communication skills. Now I can get a job and go on in life.”

“Our programs are templates for getting diverse members of the community together,” Arias said. “I call our CityWalk program and the eight other programs we’re involved with a ‘hope agenda’ for our kids. It began in the San Fernando Valley and I want it to spread to the whole city.”

Arias, who serves on Gov. Pete Wilson’s Council on Physical Fitness, is a fifth-generation Los Angeles resident. He was raised in the Valley by parents who encouraged him to pursue an education and indulge his love of sports.

The stocky power lifter, who earned degrees from CSUN and USC, has opened his home gym to neighborhood kids whom he trains in weightlifting and physical fitness.

“I’ve always been very fortunate. I’ve had the opportunity to work with youths,” Arias said. “I guess I was called to it. I’m certainly addicted to it.”

You’ll get no argument from his colleagues. “Robert has a big heart and he’s sincere in his love for kids,” said Steven Martinez, 30, one-time leader of the Pacoima Flats Gang and currently associate director of Communities in Schools. “He’s a role model for education and for making it.”

Despite 12-hour days and a schedule that doesn’t leave much time to relax with his wife of 27 years and their daughter, Arias wouldn’t trade one minute of it.

“I believe success is defined by what we do for others,” he said. “I’m not rich financially, but I am very rich in other ways.”

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