SueAnn Abena: Mind the GAP

SueAnn Abena (Class of ’02, B. A., Liberal Studies/Sociology) got her first nonprofit experience working with the Boys and Girls Club of Carson, where she grew up. When she was hired for a position at a another organization, she brought her experiences from growing up in a working class family to the job.

“My parents saved every nickel, after coming here from the Philippines with almost nothing,” she says. “It means a lot to me to have had the opportunity to have a college degree and give back to the community with the knowledge and the education I was able to receive. That was part of why I wanted to work for a nonprofit organization, especially a community-based organization like the Gang Alternatives Program (GAP).”

Hired last year as executive assistant to Doug Semark, GAP's executive director, Abena helps oversee a comprehensive program that includes gang prevention curriculum for 4th and 6th grades, job training, and a court-approved parent education program. According to Abena, education is emphasized as a way to stay out of gangs.

“We always try to show them the benefits of education. You kind of have to sell it to them by saying, ‘If you go to college, this is what your life could be like.’ People are all hungry for something, for power, money, passion, or happiness. That is always one way you can try to steer those kids toward what they want, saying, ‘This is how you can do it.’

“Not everyone wants to go to college, maybe they just want to run their parents’ business,” she continues. “We provide the essential tools to help them, from teaching them how to dress for success to how to speak properly in an interview.”

GAP was formed in 1986, through a collaboration between the United Way and L.A. county supervisors in order to respond to escalating gang activity and crime in the Los Angeles Harbor area through a collaboration between the United Way and L.A. county supervisors. Headquartered in San Pedro, GAP serves the communities that surround it, including Boyle Heights, Compton, Gardena, Long Beach, and Watts. Its holistic approach to gang prevention involves all aspects of growing up as "at-risk" youth, from parenting to their physical environment.

GAP is probably best known for its graffiti-removal vans that can be seen throughout the Harbor area. According to Abena, “It’s not just up to us while we teach them in the classroom. Their whole environment is important. Walking to school and seeing graffiti or items like a couch left on the street, is going to affect them. Some of these kids don’t see a bigger picture. The world is so small to them.”

Parent education is also key to GAP’s mission.

“I was never taught how to be a great parent with a manual,” Abena says. “It’s easy for us as parents to think we always know what’s best for them. I came from a strict, very traditional Catholic family, so there were a lot of rules to be sure we were steered in the right direction. As a parent now, I kind of think the same way. But I have to remind myself, ‘She’s only five. Remember when you were five?’ A lot of parenting is remembering when I was young, and figuring out how I can raise my daughter in a way that will benefit the two of us and the whole family.”

As a mother, Abena realizes the impact of having several adults as mentors and role models, not just their parents. She paraphrases Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) when she says, “It takes a whole village, really, to raise a child. It’s challenging to be a working mom pursuing a career, but it’s manageable. I’ve gotten a lot of emotional support from my family. My grandparents, my husband, and my sister have all made a great foundation for my daughter.”

Abena cites the impact of older children and adults on at-risk kids, saying, “A lot of them are looking for attention. When I was growing up, I was always looking for a person I could trust and look up to. Kids will look up to a cousin or a brother but, unfortunately, these older kids are sometimes involved in gangs.”

Among Abena’s role models at Dominguez Hills was Margaret Hunter, former assistant professor of sociology.

“As a professor, her doors were always open for assistance,” says Abena. “She knew her students worked hard. She listened and gave advice, and always asked us, ‘What can I do to help you learn better?’ There was a lot of work in her class, but I learned a great deal about being socially aware and about racism. It’s such a touchy subject, but in that class, we really put it out on the table.”

“I graduated from Carson High School,” she continues. “It’s such a diverse population there. People are friendly with each other, but they stuck with their own kind. At Dominguez, we said, ‘Let’s touch on this, let’s be open about it.’”

Abena, who through GAP strives to work with other agencies and community leaders to tackle race issues, recalls her days at Dominguez Hills as enlightening.

“I made a lot of friends there with people from different cultures and backgrounds,” she says. “It’s great when you get close to people and realize you have a lot in common. Although we have different skin tones or cultures, there is always something you can find in common, whether it’s religion, politics, hobbies, children, or working toward a great career.”

Abena leaves no stone unturned in her approach to the agency’s mission when she says that, “Everything is correlated. We have to take every part of their social life into account and tell them what can happen if they join gangs. Everybody from the staff, the board of directors, and the community we collaborate with, believes in working on giving these kids alternatives.

“We cannot have them repeat a cycle over and over,” she says. “We have to take baby steps and not think that one program is going to help them overnight; we have to be constant. We can’t just think of the now, we have to think about their future.”

For more information on GAP, go to http://www.gangfree.org/index.html.

- Joanie Harmon