Youth Sports, Reading Programs Are Offered

Youth sports and reading programs are being offered this summer in the neighborhood that has been the focus of city improvement projects since 1994.

The Santa Ana Community Action Network, guided by the city’s Department of Recreation and Community Services, has brought together police, school and volunteer workers in the Artesia Pilar neighborhood, bounded by 17th Street, 1st Street, Fairview Street and Baker Street.

Activities this summer include rookie ball, which arranges for members of the California Angels to coach neighborhood youth, and a variety of reading programs.

Jenny Rios, the city’s senior recreation supervisor, said the programs were designed to work hand in hand with law enforcement efforts.

“It was a police effort to clean up the neighborhood and ensure there was something there to maintain the neighborhood afterward,” she said.

In the past year, more than 1,000 adults and children participated in Community Action Network’s programs, according to a progress report.

Funding for the programs comes from a $750,000 Delinquency Prevention Program grant from the state Office of Criminal Justice, spread evenly over three years.

Information: (714) 571-4200.