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 | John Tello |
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 COMMUNITY COMMITMENT
A Commitment to Youth
and the Under-Represented
John Tello grew up in a gang environment in Compton, California, raised by his mother along with 4 brothers and sisters. Being an ex-gang member, he experienced first-hand some of the problems and misconceptions many people have about the desire of youth in this environment to escape and rise above these conditions. To that end, he has devoted much of his life, both as a lawyer and in the community, to helping at-risk youth overcome many of those same obstacles he encountered as a youth.
Since becoming a lawyer, John has served on the Board of Directors of Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance for a number of years. 'GBLA' is an organization devoted to proving legal services to those who could not otherwise afford legal representation. He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Kern County Bar Association during which time he participated in several "Law Day" outreach programs aimed at providing legal advice to persons from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds. Another organization in which John served as a member of the Board of Directors was the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation which, despite its name, served as a training ground for persons of all ethnic backgrounds aimed specifically at making those persons employable and self sufficient. Clients in MAOF included women who had been out of the work force for years because of their family commitments, high-school dropouts and others who had not received adequate occupational training skills to prepare them for employment. MAOF also ran numerous Senior Citizen Centers providing food and recreation for the many senior citizens on fixed incomes who were having trouble making ends meet or who were confined to their homes due to health and transportation problems.
 In 1990, John, along with other concerned individuals, joined with members of the Kern County Probation Department to form the Kern County Probation Mentor Program aimed at identifying individuals who were at-risk because of criminal activity for which they were in danger of being incarcerated in a Juvenile facility. These at-risk youth came from homes where there was no adult male parent in the home and it was felt that with the help of concerned adult males in the community acting as "Big Brothers," these youth could be exposed to positive role models. Each minor participant in the program was required to sign a "contract" as part of the terms and conditions of their probation that they would agree to participate in the program in lieu of possible incarceration. The program began with 7 Mentors and Mentees and was eventually expanded to include a female component. Tutoring programs were provided as well as summer jobs to assist the participants in school and at home. Field trips to museums, cultural events, colleges, as well as sporting events were provided as a way of exposing the mentees to programs and events they had never experienced and possibly only dreamed of. Community activities such as anti-graffiti paint programs and 'Habitat for Humanity' home building was included to give the youth a sense of commitment to the community. Many successes and some failures followed, but John continues as a Mentor in the program and is now mentoring his fourth mentee. Many of the mentees who have successfully graduated from the program return to assist with the youth and continue to participate in many of the programs offered.
 Since 1983, John Tello has been a member of St. Joseph's Parish in the heart of East Bakersfield, an ethnically diverse and economically depressed community. He serves as a Lector and Eucharistic Minister at Sunday Mass. His passion, however, comes from his role as Youth Minister in the High School Youth Program. Not only does John devote countless hours to classroom preparation and presentation in his ministry, he also helps formulate and participate in Retreats and other special programs aimed at helping the youth become more aware of their spirituality and involvement in the community. He also counsels, under the direction of the pastor, many of the youth who are experiencing legal problems of their own or within their families. John is proud of the fact that his own children have participated and completed this program. Many of his "graduates" communicate with him on a regular basis about their successes in their personal and spiritual lives. John is currently in his 15th year teaching in the High School Youth Program.
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