It's a short drive from the well-groomed Stanford campus to the potholed streets of East Palo Alto. But as hundreds of Stanford students discover while doing community service work every year, it's a world away.
People at both ends of University Avenue benefit from the interaction. The underfunded city gets talented volunteers, and students pick up experience in human relations and problem-solving. In all, Stanford students, faculty and staff spend an estimated 72,000 hours a year in University volunteer programs based in East Palo Alto.
But students are by nature transient, and that has sometimes been a frustration for East Palo Alto, says Leonard Randolph, '87, head of the grass-roots community development agency, EPA CAN DO. They bring lots of energy and ideas to a project, stay for a year, and then they're gone, he explains.
To alleviate that problem, a number of Stanford groups and individuals—including many alumni—have organized more than 40 permanent programs aimed at helping East Palo Alto. "We're not in the community to do research," says Tim Stanton, '69, director of the University's Haas Center for Public Service. "We're there to make an impact."
Examples: Law. Since 1984, law students have run the East Palo Alto Community Law Project, a pro bono legal clinic that is partially funded by the Law School and serves about 500 clients a year on matters ranging from rental disputes to consumer complaints to juvenile offenses. Katie Tinto, '96, began working in East Palo Alto as a community policing intern for a public policy course in her senior year and now runs a domestic violence prevention program.
Health. Medical students have staffed a free Sunday clinic at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Menlo Park since 1990. Many of the uninsured patients they serve are from East Palo Alto. Now students are working to secure funding from the Medical School.
Free at Last is a drug and alcohol recovery program run by Priya Haji, '93.
Education. The Haas Center sponsors student-run after-school tutoring programs and the East Palo Alto-Stanford Summer Academy. Students in the school of education offer tutoring, environmental education and assistance to student government in the Ravenswood City School District. Last year, a group of Stanford alumni set up the Eastside Preparatory School, in which 23 high school students are currently enrolled in college prep courses.
Work Skills. Plugged In, founded by law school graduate Bart Decrem in 1992, is used by some 200 residents each week who create web pages, exchange e-mail, prepare resumes and go to free computer classes. Start Up, established by six Graduate School of Business students in 1994, provides business training, capital and other help to local small businesses.
Recreation. The Haas Center has run a popular tennis program since 1990, and students from the School of Education offer recreational after-school programs. The Alumni Association brings East Palo Alto youngsters to Stanford Sierra Camp for a week each summer.
Vicky Anning, MA '97, is a Bay Area writer.
