State dollars leading to positive outlets

[Guest]

State dollars leading to positive outlets

State will help fund counseling program and activities targeted at local Armenian

young people.

 

By CLAUDIA PESCHIUTTA

 

 

BURBANK -- Give kids something to do and they will stay out of trouble.

This is what two Armenian organizations in the area and state Assemblyman Scott

Wildman (D-Burbank) had in mind when they began working on providing state funding

for local youth programs.

Wildman's requests made it into the 2000-01 state budget and will provide nearly

$450,000 for counseling programs and activities targeted at Armenian young people in

the area.

Hilda Saliba, a program coordinator at the Glendale office of the Armenian Relief

Society, said local Armenian Americans need some place to go for help where they

won't be hindered by language and cultural issues.

"If the language is a barrier, it's very hard for them to go there and communicate,"

she said.

The society plans to use its $280,000 in state funding to establish a youth counseling

program that could assist 100 teens a month, Saliba said. Services would include

counseling, drug and alcohol treatment, after-school mentoring, job training and career

guidance for at-risk teens, she said.

Saliba emphasized the program would be open to young people of all races.

Wildman said he has focused some of his legislative efforts on the area's Armenian

population because it is a rapidly growing community that has been underserved.

More than 50,000 people of Armenian heritage live in Burbank and Glendale.

"We're going to have to invest more in the Armenian community," Wildman said.

The Glendale "Ararat" Chapter of Homenetmen, an international athletic and

scouting organization, will get $158,000 from the state this year.

Armond Gorgorian, executive director of the chapter, said the money will help the

group provide athletic and cultural activities, such as painting and dance classes, for its

1,800-plus members, most of whom are 18 or younger.

"We give them something to be involved in other than gang activity and other kinds

of negative activities," Gorgorian said.

Saliba agreed that kids need resources and support to avoid trouble.

"If we keep them busy and keep them here, we think that we can prevent the

violence in the community," she said.

Wildman was pleased Gov. Gray Davis approved his budget requests but said more

funding is needed.

"It's a good first step," he said.