Signal Tribune Newspaper

By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer

A college education is one of the best ways to break the cycle of poverty. The problem is that low-income parents often do not know how to prepare their children for college. For about two years, the kids at Las Brisas Community Housing in Signal Hill have been getting the kind of help they need to succeed in school, to get accepted into a college, and to have the financial resources necessary to complete their college education.
Las Brisas is managed by Los Angeles-based Abode Communities, which owns and manages many housing complexes in the region. Among other programs available at Las Brisas, Abode Communities offers the “Step Up” program to help kids achieve academic success and enter college. The company also provides scholarships to help defray the costs of a college education.
Nate Sessoms, Step Up Program coordinator, explained the program’s primary goals: helping high school students excel academically; exposing Las Brisas students and their families to college; making sure they will get accepted into a college; and ensuring they will succeed in college.
To make sure the students succeed in high school, Sessoms helps them with their homework assignments. “I make sure they comprehend the material,” he explained, adding that he also helps them with social skills like not being afraid to ask the teacher questions.
“We also provide them with professional skills like what they have to do to get a job in the real world,” Sessoms said. “That includes having a resumé, dressing appropriately and having good interview skills.”
In addition, The Step Up program instills a sense of responsibility to the community in the students’ minds. “A lot of people say, ‘When I reach a certain level, I want to give back,’” Sessoms said. “But our message is, you can give back now.” He explained that students in the Step Up program are involved in various community service projects that teach them the value of helping people who are less fortunate.
The Step Up program is offered Monday through Thursday from 4pm to 8pm in the Las Brisas Community Center. After completing their homework assignments, the students study materials designed to help them score high on the SAT college entrance exam. “We also meet with the parents to get them involved in the educational process of their children,” said Ana Cortes, services coordinator at the Community Center. “In addition, Step Up provides tutoring for the students who need it.”
The program also helps students secure the funding necessary for their college education. “We have a financial aid counselor from CSULB that came here to do a financial aid workshop for parents and really fell in love with the Step Up program,” Cortes said. “She asked us if she could come here as a volunteer and help families on a one-to-one basis. She teaches parents and students how to apply for grants and loans that will pay college costs.”
The counselor, Wendy Ascencio, noted that helping students and families understand the college process and get the necessary financial aid is a very rewarding experience. “I just love helping first-generation college students and their families,” Ascencio said.
While Ascencio helps the students secure grants and loans for their college costs, high school seniors living at Las Brisas may also apply for scholarships. “There are two types of scholarships available,” Cortes said. “One is money actually provided by Abode Communities and the other is scholarships that we help students obtain from other organizations.”
Cortes noted that last year five students living at Las Brisas applied for the Abode Communities scholarship. Only one, Juan Maldonado, got it, but the others were helped too. Cortes and her staff were able to secure other scholarships and financial aid for all of the other four students. The Abode Communities scholarship is for $10,000, which is paid to the college and the student in increments during the four years of college.
Emily Leos, a Las Brisas resident and a freshman student at CSULB said she probably would not have enrolled in the university without the Step Up program. “Nate helped me with the college application, Wendy helped me with the financial aid, and everyone here was just very supportive,” she said. Leos still comes to the Step Up classroom to use a computer for her college homework assignments.
Sessoms said the Step Up program has been accomplishing the goals for which it was created. “We have seen kids get into college, and we have seen kids find employment,” he said. “We have also been successful in changing the culture of thinking. Now more students and their families are realizing that a college education is available to them.”