Teens spruce up buildings and get a new look themselves
By Michele Linck Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, June 27, 2008
Lily Guevara, a member of the Sioux Sioux City Watchful Eye Phoenix program, paints a wall at Prestige Liquors in Sioux Sioux City, Neb., Thursday, June 26, 2008. (Sioux City Journal photo by Tim Hynds)
SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- A year ago, 15-year-old Janet Garcia wouldn't have seen herself volunteering to paint the exterior of a bar and liquor store on South Sioux City's Dakota Avenue. She lived in California then and hung out with a gang.
She moved to South Sioux City and associated with the gang's members here, too. Then she got involved in an after-school program of the Watchful Eye Foundation. The program, DeTour, helped her leave the gang behind. But the gang's three-dot symbol, tattooed on her cheek and hands, remained.
Garcia is working on the Los Amigos bar makeover as part of another Watchful Eye program, Phoenix. Her motivation is, in part, to earn a makeover for herself, one that would include the removal of the tats from her past.
"I realized it wasn't good," she said of the gang Thursday as she steadied the ladder for her friend Lily Guevara. Guevara, 15, perched near the ladder's top, rolling chocolate-brown paint onto the high reaches of the covered parking area for Los Amigos.
The updated color scheme for Los Amigos is aimed not only at improving the looks of The Avenue, as the city's linear downtown is called, but also at cultivating a sense of satisfaction in giving back to the community for the several dozen teens in the Phoenix program.
The nonprofit Watchful Eye works through several programs to protect and improve the lives of children, from toddlerhood through the teenage years. The nonprofit foundation is a 501(c)3 charity, and Founder and president Susie Squires said it has the appropriate insurance and requires parental consent and emergency medical forms for kids to participate.
Its DeTour program shows teens the downside of gangs and helps them become contributing members of society. It started three years ago when one boy came to Squires' office and asked if he could help her to fulfill his court-ordered community service. She said yes, and the courts kept sending more kids.
And so did churches. Teens came wanting to volunteer to meet community service requirements for religious education classes. Other kids showed up wanting to get out of gangs or to stay away from them. So Squires developed DeTour.
Now she has begun Phoenix. A "rising from the ashes" of sorts, it helps with the outer person, she said, focusing more on the teens' outward presentation of themselves. They are learning how to dress more mainstream by leaving gang-style clothing behind, and to dress for job interviews, including appropriate hairstyles and makeup.
This summer they'll have sessions on etiquette and resume writing and will practice interview skills. They are already touring local businesses, large and small, Squires said, because she wants them to see what's here and to stay in the community after high school.
And thus was born the storefront makeover project. The teens spruced up L.A. Fashions and Guadalupana, a grocery, last week and started scraping paint Monday at Los Amigos. They'll paint at another business next week if there's time after spending Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday taking flood relief supplies to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, another Watchful Eye project.
Grant supports makeovers
Each Phoenix member who helps on at least one storefront makeover, spends a day helping an elderly person with chores and gives some time promoting the foundation will qualify for a $1,500 makeover, said Gena Olson, a Wayne State College student who is coordinating the program this summer.
The funding comes from a $39,000 grant from Women United, a committee of the United Way. "(Watchful Eye) had already proven themselves and they had so many more things they wanted to do," said Karleen Waller, who chaired the grant committee. "We felt they had a good vision."
The makeover will include school clothes, hair and makeup. And, for Garcia, tattoo removal. Garcia said she would have worked on Los Amigos even without that incentive.
"It's fun to help the community and meet new people," she said. "I'm better here."
Mikey Alderete, who will be a senior at South Sioux City High School, had no choice. He got into trouble two years ago and was court-ordered to DeTour. "Now I come because I want to," he said, taking a break from painting.
And Alvaro Guevara, 19, started the same way, according to Squires. But he said he just wanted some volunteer work on his resume for college applications. Whichever, he just graduated from South Sioux City High and is headed to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to major in computer engineering.
Garcia's friend Lily Guevara, whose parents died violently and who lives with her grandmother in Sioux City, said she started going to Phoenix with some friends. She takes the bus to get there every day. "The community gives a lot to us; We're giving back to it," she said. "The businesses have the money, but they don't have the time."
And Los Amigos owner Rafael Aceves said he is happy to have the help. He has completely redone the interior of his bar, and now the bright, multicolored exterior he abhorred will be more tasteful, too.
"We want to make it look good," he said, "especially since it is on The Avenue."
She moved to South Sioux City and associated with the gang's members here, too. Then she got involved in an after-school program of the Watchful Eye Foundation. The program, DeTour, helped her leave the gang behind. But the gang's three-dot symbol, tattooed on her cheek and hands, remained.
Garcia is working on the Los Amigos bar makeover as part of another Watchful Eye program, Phoenix. Her motivation is, in part, to earn a makeover for herself, one that would include the removal of the tats from her past.
"I realized it wasn't good," she said of the gang Thursday as she steadied the ladder for her friend Lily Guevara. Guevara, 15, perched near the ladder's top, rolling chocolate-brown paint onto the high reaches of the covered parking area for Los Amigos.
The updated color scheme for Los Amigos is aimed not only at improving the looks of The Avenue, as the city's linear downtown is called, but also at cultivating a sense of satisfaction in giving back to the community for the several dozen teens in the Phoenix program.
The nonprofit Watchful Eye works through several programs to protect and improve the lives of children, from toddlerhood through the teenage years. The nonprofit foundation is a 501(c)3 charity, and Founder and president Susie Squires said it has the appropriate insurance and requires parental consent and emergency medical forms for kids to participate.
Its DeTour program shows teens the downside of gangs and helps them become contributing members of society. It started three years ago when one boy came to Squires' office and asked if he could help her to fulfill his court-ordered community service. She said yes, and the courts kept sending more kids.
And so did churches. Teens came wanting to volunteer to meet community service requirements for religious education classes. Other kids showed up wanting to get out of gangs or to stay away from them. So Squires developed DeTour.
Now she has begun Phoenix. A "rising from the ashes" of sorts, it helps with the outer person, she said, focusing more on the teens' outward presentation of themselves. They are learning how to dress more mainstream by leaving gang-style clothing behind, and to dress for job interviews, including appropriate hairstyles and makeup.
This summer they'll have sessions on etiquette and resume writing and will practice interview skills. They are already touring local businesses, large and small, Squires said, because she wants them to see what's here and to stay in the community after high school.
And thus was born the storefront makeover project. The teens spruced up L.A. Fashions and Guadalupana, a grocery, last week and started scraping paint Monday at Los Amigos. They'll paint at another business next week if there's time after spending Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday taking flood relief supplies to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, another Watchful Eye project.
Grant supports makeovers
Each Phoenix member who helps on at least one storefront makeover, spends a day helping an elderly person with chores and gives some time promoting the foundation will qualify for a $1,500 makeover, said Gena Olson, a Wayne State College student who is coordinating the program this summer.
The funding comes from a $39,000 grant from Women United, a committee of the United Way. "(Watchful Eye) had already proven themselves and they had so many more things they wanted to do," said Karleen Waller, who chaired the grant committee. "We felt they had a good vision."
The makeover will include school clothes, hair and makeup. And, for Garcia, tattoo removal. Garcia said she would have worked on Los Amigos even without that incentive.
"It's fun to help the community and meet new people," she said. "I'm better here."
Mikey Alderete, who will be a senior at South Sioux City High School, had no choice. He got into trouble two years ago and was court-ordered to DeTour. "Now I come because I want to," he said, taking a break from painting.
And Alvaro Guevara, 19, started the same way, according to Squires. But he said he just wanted some volunteer work on his resume for college applications. Whichever, he just graduated from South Sioux City High and is headed to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to major in computer engineering.
Garcia's friend Lily Guevara, whose parents died violently and who lives with her grandmother in Sioux City, said she started going to Phoenix with some friends. She takes the bus to get there every day. "The community gives a lot to us; We're giving back to it," she said. "The businesses have the money, but they don't have the time."
And Los Amigos owner Rafael Aceves said he is happy to have the help. He has completely redone the interior of his bar, and now the bright, multicolored exterior he abhorred will be more tasteful, too.
"We want to make it look good," he said, "especially since it is on The Avenue."
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Patty McGill wrote on Jun 27, 2008 7:08 AM: