Meet La Tijera Avery of Pass It Forward Foundation in Inglewood

Today we’d like to introduce you to La Tijera Avery.

La Tijera, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am 29 the oldest out of my four siblings, three sisters and one brother who I met four years ago. Being the oldest my passion has always been supporting and protecting those younger than me especially my siblings. Prior to meeting my amazing dad my mom was a single mother with just my sister and I. Then our life positively changed when I was five. Growing up in my household I remembered how hard is was for my parents to balance putting four girls in activities that helped us and kept us out of trouble. Three out of the four of us wanted to participate in sports. Basketball was the sport I chose then later in high school track and field. I recall in my younger years how hard is was playing for my travel team because of cost. Although my parents tried to keep their struggles in life from us I was always aware as the oldest. It would run my dad from $200-$500 just for me to participate in travel ball and the local parks also charged as well. So I could only imagine what it would have been like if my sisters and I all wanted to participate together.

So during college, I had an idea to create a program that allowed youth to be trained for free in basketball (because it was my first love) and also have the opportunity to give Low cost personal trainings to those who still wanted to learn but had a hard time either socially or for scheduling reasons. So every year beginning In March ending in August. I start training youth for free in basketball twice a week. I’ve had the pleasure of joining the basketball portion South Central Sports League. They include several local nonprofits who put together different sport competitive leagues for youth all for free! I use this and several other community resources to support my efforts in helping our youth. Thanks to the support of other local coaches I’ve been able to do this for the past three years. To be honest without Rancho Cienega recreation center allowing me to use their gym prior to renovation I wouldn’t have been able to do this. Through it all, my dad has been my number one supporter and helping me continue to Pass It Forward. My goal is to create an organization with a facility that allows youth to come and participate in sports without the burden of cost. I want them to be able to really learn not just get a local parent who’s not passionate about it to be a stand in coach. I see many of these parks charging $60 to wear a uniform that comes with nothing but scrap ball in a gym.

When they put on a Pass It Forward uniform it will be a reminded of we’re they’re going. Forward!, with a community behind and access to resources through our connection with other local programs like Education is Key, KidsOnAGerny, A Place Called Home and Lost Kids of Los Angeles. Speaking of which these programs have been phenomenal in assisting my efforts. Thanks to their support I’ve had the opportunity to bless them with events like attending Clippers games and meeting the players. Allowing them to participate in a court unveiling with the 2k Foundation and Xbox thank to Shelly Thompson with the Los Angeles county department (who noticed me on Facebook). They’ve enjoyed free participation in the Nike 3on3, free aau tournaments and so on. The mission is to transform the lives of underserved or what I like to call “opportunity youth” through the art of basketball. What we do is use basketball; to teach life skills, physical and mental health, community bonding (bringing kids from different hoods and even gangs to play together) and most importantly positive image of self and self-love.

So much more comes with the sports from community support through team play at different parks and in different leagues, accountability, and education of self (mental, spiritual and physical health). Plus I’m vegan so I’m always pushing for them to eat better haha. If someone was to ask me my vision of Pass It Forward Foundation’s future. I’d tell them we’d have a building right in the home of Inglewood that would be a safe place for kids to come to feel at home. This is what I dreamed of for myself as a kid. Especially growing up seeing my friends either join gangs or find drugs to cope with how many didn’t care about us in the community. These parks felt like babysitter who didn’t care what we did. When I work with kids I make sure they know I care about them their well being and most importantly their self-love. I need them to have positive images of themselves. I was losing friends as early as 12 and all through my childhood here so I needed to make a change. I always felt my mom didn’t give birth to me in the city of Angels name me after a street here for no reason. This is my home my initials are L.A for a reason God have me my purpose with my name part of this city.

Tijeras or scissors the meaning in Spanish people joke about often. I see it as a sign for me to cut what’s holding these youth back and be what helps them make it across to the other side of the life they’ve been dreaming and hoping for. I chose sports and college and hope others would follow. I want these kids to know Rather then feel then need to join a gang to feel like they have a place they belong. They can join our foundation be a part of a never-ending cycle of youth and young adults passing forward the knowledge, resources and live given even long after I’m gone from this earth. Maybe I won’t change the world but I’m praying I spark the mind of a kid who does so they will Pass It Forward. This is my passion I have Pass It Forward tattooed on my arm as a daily reminder. And I pray you all continue to Pas It Forward as well.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Obstacles for sure have been financially. At one point in time, I was homeless and no one knew but I couldn’t stop helping these kids. Even through my hardships passing forward what I was currently learning from my mistakes was key to me. Secondly having a place to operate. People see my organization as competition to the parks and local aau teams not realizing if we work together not only would we all be great but we’d positively change the community for kids forever. Plus I do it for free. Lastly being a woman and looking as young as I do. When I first meet kids or their parents they think I’m a kid myself. I’ll be 30 next year but I’m still baby face T haha The road isn’t smooth but I’ll never stop passing it forward. I always tell people if what I’m doing doesn’t work for them Pass It Forward to someone it possibly can.

Pass It Forward Foundation – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from others?
So twice a week from March to August I train youth every Monday and Wednesday nights in basketball for free. This is real training by the way. I’m no coach I tell people theirs a difference. I evaluate how they learn what they can improve on tell them what I see how I can support them in bettering it and then we get to work. I do this for each and every kid. Then we participate in the South Central Sports league which runs for two months. Next I prepare those as many as I can afford to enter for the Nike 3on3. Then our season ends in August. Within all of that at these trainings sessions myself and the volunteer coaches that support me are giving them life skills lessons. From eating habits to brother/sisterhood to being active in the community and education being key. I understand the reality that not every kid will go to college but we work to help them understand knowledge Is power and having a plane is important. We do that through speaking on our experiences. I always tell them my story of how I got a division one full-ride scholarship and because I thought sports was more important than my education I lost it going into my sophomore year. How I had one summer to understand why it was important raise my grades to get it back which I did but how it affected my life when all I had to do was listen in the first place.

I specialize in technical training I learned from Coach Stacy right after I graduated from college. I already made close attention to detail he showed me step by step processes in working with youth to better assist them. What I’m most proud of are the connections I’ve made with people who do what they do out of love. Like I mentioned before Neekko with Education is Key Gernica With KidsOnAGerny, Shelly Thompson from Los Ángeles County and my guy Paul with Lost Kids of Los Ángeles all people doing it for free with love. I even met an amazing man Clayton Frech who runs Ángel City Sports an organization that offers free clinics to disabled athletes. This opened a door for me to work with disabled youth for free. I now coach his son who just became a USA silver medal Paralympian in high jump and long jump. Things like this have me praying daily that one day we get real community support for these types of organizations to really do it on a bigger scale.

What sets me apart from other is I do this out of love and for free. We only charge $15 to get them insured for their safety and their parents and those that can’t afford it I always cover it myself. Because I love to help youth. They have aau teams in our community charging $300 a kid. Yes we may not join the best state of the art tournaments or have the fancies jerseys but we have love and real support from each other. And one day we will have those other things.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I personally define success as Loving what you do and it’s bettering as well as helping not only you but those around you.

What I look for are three things
1. Am I displaying and really loving this
2. Am I growing and are other growing around me
3. What I’m doing showing be positively affecting me while negatively affecting others. We should all be getting it together whether it’s financially or something as simple as better mental health. You shouldn’t have to put other down to elevate yourself.

Pricing:

• Participation Insurance $15 monthly
• Personal one on one training $15 for those in low income communities

Contact Info:

• Website: www.PassItForwardLA.com
• Phone: 424-298-1105
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: Pass It Forward Foundation
• Facebook: Pass It Forward Foundation

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