A NEW LIFE FOR EAST P.A. APARTMENT

Tenants of the once drug-infested Carriage House Apartments in East Palo
Alto don't have the amenities of posh suburban complexes on the Peninsula.
There's no pool, sauna or playground. No plants to line the walkways. Not
even a doormat before the apartment doors.

But in one apartment where prostitutes and drug dealers used to do
business, they have something far more valuable: a Catholic nun providing
free English classes.

Trinitas Hernandez, a nun from St. Francis of Assisi Church, received two
grants to rent an apartment that she uses four hours a day to teach two
English classes to 15 Spanish-speaking students.

The sister says she is giving newly arrived immigrants a chance at better
jobs. The apartment manager, Bob Perez, says his tenants are learning the
importance of education.

Hernandez said she believed it was necessary to take her lessons to where
her students lived, in order to make sure they came to classes.

``You really don't affect people unless you become part of their daily
lives. This is something that I knew would be important to them and by
going to where they were, I was able to make them believe that they are
important to me,'' said Hernandez, a pint-size box of energy in an
undecorated blue skirt and head covering. She cheerfully reviews the most
rudimentary English over and over again.

Hernandez has brought money from the Peninsula's wealthier communities, on
the west side of Highway 101, to bolster her program. With $7,500 from both
the Daughters of Charity Foundation and the Junior League of Palo Alto-Mid
Peninsula, Hernandez christened the apartment as the East Palo Alto Rosalie
Rendu Center, named after another nun who inspired her.

The English classes highlight how much the apartment complex has changed.
Not long ago, residents and passersby openly dealt drugs around the 44-unit
building considered one of the city's worst. The change has been duly noted
by police.

``At one time it used to be drug-infested. There was prostitution going
on. Over time, with a change in management, it drastically changed
around,'' said Police Lt. Rod Norris.

Perez said he still has a few problems related to drug use and sale but he
feels most of the tenants -- who pay about $500 a month for studios and
one-bedrooms -- are hard-working, good-hearted people.

The classes have brought together these neighbors who knew each other only
from the laundry room or the parking lot. They commiserate over learning a
language with rules so different from Spanish. They share their hope for
better jobs and improved communication.

``I can't help my children with their homework, and I can't communicate
with their teachers. I really need to know English,'' explains Hilda
Madrigal, a 31-year-old mother of four who emigrated six years ago from
Mexico.

Hernandez allows students to bring their children, which makes the class
attractive to women who have no way to leave their children even for a few
hours. The kids play in an adjacent room -- at least intermittently. The
toddlers ebb and flow into the tiny classroom with complaints about thirst,
dirty diapers and boredom.

Classroom discussions focus on vocabulary and filling out job applications.
At snack time, kids and parents get cookies, juice or soda. Conversations
drift to soap operas, the planning of a baby shower for one student and
narration of everyday events.

This is the community that 15 members of the Junior League of Palo Alto-Mid
Peninsula hope to penetrate during a three-year project in East Palo Alto
beginning this month. The League hopes to shatter its white-glove
reputation by working hand-in-hand with Latino women who often lack
resources to better their lives, said member and San Carlos resident Carrie
Du Bois.

Du Bois already takes care of the students' children during some classes.
Du Bois will encourage other women to provide the youngsters with a
preschool type of setting. The Junior League women are also considering how
they can set up more English centers throughout the city and organize ice
cream parties and other activities for the women.

In the meantime, the students persevere in their daily classes. Speaking
with a thick accent, Aida Navarro slowly tells the class that her husband
works at the salad bar of a Palo Alto restaurant.

``There are so many words I do not know,'' she explains. ``It's
embarrassing. But there's only one way to learn, word by word.''

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)