giving back BY JULIA DE SIMONE
youth. He says statistics also show that only 8.6% of Compton students graduate with a university degree compared to 32.5% of LAC youth. But the couple knew the past didn’t have to dictate their community’s future. During UEC’s initial years, art camps were established in the summer, followed by after-school programs during the school year. It soon morphed into literacy, teaching specific reading comprehension skills and math. In 2015, the first high school graduate and college scholarships were awarded. When the pandemic hit, they took their programming online to create the “Houses of STEAM,” aimed at teaching Compton’s youth and their families STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) through hands-on training and building projects. Post-pandemic, they have moved back into the in-person/hybrid model to reach their Compton families more effectively, and now students and families can attend field trips and speak with STEAM career professionals who look like them: Black, Indigenous and people of color. “We see a lot through our own parents’ lens — the sacrifices they made and the resources that were available to them back then. We desire to provide that same access for our Compton families. We realize that everybody needs a little help.”
“Sometimes
parents don’t know what resources they have, so we help them get them.”
Since the couple relocated from their previous home, which was 15 minutes away, to
Compton, they are also equally invested in their community.
“The community needs to be able to see you in order to trust you,” Barak says. “We’re always around, gardening, walking, hosting block parties and visiting our neighbors. We want to grow with our community. So, whatever the community needs, that’s what we provide.” In June 2020, David Brooks, opinion columnist for The New York Times, interviewed the couple for a commentary piece on racial disparities. He wrote that the couple are experts in how to lift up their neighborhoods. “If we helped get them money and support, they would figure out what to do,” Brooks wrote. The couple says future plans include expanding their after-school and arts programs, building a Teen Tech Center, providing more scholarships, and sponsoring a building campaign. Although they hope to obtain funding through various methods such as grants and sponsorships, they are always in need of any donations and volunteers. But at the end of the day, the duo won’t give up on their community or the lessons inherited. “My friend says, ‘position is part-time, but purpose is full time,’” Barak says. “We (as a society) focus so much on our titles, but it’s really about what we were created to do. We, Sara and I, like to lean in more to our purpose. It’s important because that’s the currency of being a human.”
“Everyone has a gift to offer the world. It is our honor to co-educate with people toward unearthing those gifts.” Barak Bomani Co-Founder, Unearth & Empower Communities
calbanktrust.com/ inyourcorner
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