Coach Carroll and A Better LA featured in the Daily Trojan

Coach Pete Carroll and A Better LA are featured in an article appearing in the Daily Trojan today! Carroll received the Crystal Heart for outstanding community service Sunday evening for his work with A Better LA. Below is the Daily Trojan article written by Callie Schweitzer:

(To see the original article go to: http://www.dailytrojan.com/news/carroll_receives_top_honor_for_service_to_l.a._community-1.1601956)

Coach Pete Carroll is the first Crystal Heart recipient from within the USC community.
Callie Schweitzer
Published: Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Pete Carroll, the man who appears to have it all, added prestigious award winner to his list of accomplishments. And this award has nothing to do with football.

Pete Carroll received the Crystal Heart for outstanding community service Sunday evening at “A Celebration of the Heart,” a scholarship gala recognizing outstanding individuals with a deep commitment to the values of the social work profession.

Carroll, USC’s head football coach, accepted the award in front of a crowd of nearly 300 people in Town and Gown.

The award, which is the School of Social Work’s highest honor for community service, has never been given to someone within the university community before, said Marlene Wagner, the school’s associate dean for external relations.

Carroll was selected by the School’s Board of Councilors because of his commitment to work with at-risk inner-city youth in South Los Angeles and his creation of A Better LA, Wagner said.

“I’m absolutely humbled to be part of this kind of talk, this kind of conversation, this attention,” Carroll said. “I’m humbled by this. There are so many things that are happening in this community right here that’s called social work that goes so far, so deep, that to be even associated, this is a marvel to me.”

Carroll founded the nonprofit, A Better LA, in 2002 with hopes to end inner-city violence and develop a sustainable model for creating more peaceful communities in South Los Angeles.

Carroll and supporters of A Better LA — including LAPD Chief William Bratton, L.A. County Sherriff Lee Baca and civil rights leader Connie Rice — work with teachers, social workers and community members to transform inner cities through methods such as building community partnerships and utilizing education programs.

Previous award winners who have demonstrated a commitment to community service in the greater Los Angeles area include Tyne Daly, Mavis Leno and the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Henry and Stacey Winkler.

Proceeds from Sunday’s ceremony will establish the Pete Carroll Scholarship, which will be given every year to an outstanding graduate student pursuing a career in social work and working with at-risk inner-city youth.

The first ever honoree of the Pete Carroll Scholarship was Jose Gutierrez, a graduate student studying social work, who told a story about reaching out to a kid he worked with through a shared interest in hip-hop music.

He drew on this in his remarks when he compared himself to Carroll.

“Although our areas of expertise differ just slightly, we have both reached at-risk adolescents by understanding their language,” Gutierrez said. “It’s simple; if you have to rap, ain’t nothing wrong with that. If you have to play catch, then act fast and don’t drop the ball. Anything is possible.”

After the event, Carroll said he was thrilled to be a part of “such a great night.”

He said the best part of being involved with A Better LA, which he referred to as “a vehicle for delivering a message of hope ... [is] seeing a kid turn to the good side. To see anybody seize the image of hope that can change their lives, it’s worth so much.”

Those who know Carroll and his work with A Better LA had only positive things to say about him.

Xiomara Flores-Holguin, a founding member of A Better LA and a supervising children’s social worker with the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services, said she couldn’t think of a more deserving honoree in the country.

“This is a man who had the courage and the vision and the mission and the commitment to help young people — not only on the football team, but young people who have challenges outside of a football stadium — just to live and survive in the inner city,” she said. “He has a genuine heart. He has a heart of a social worker. I’m very proud and honored to know Coach Pete Carroll.”

Flores-Holguin, who was raised in the community, said she became used to people saying they wanted to improve the area and leaving before anything was done. Carroll, she said, has been the exception to that rule.

“He walks into communities, he walks into meetings, and he’s home,” she said.

Brian Center, the executive director of A Better LA, said working with Carroll is “amazing.”

“He inspires people everyday,” Center said. “He’s such a great role model. He knows about life.”

Many people spoke of Carroll’s innate ability to bring together groups who wouldn’t normally interact together, like law enforcement officials, politicians and former gang members.

Flores-Holguin said Carroll rounded up the troops for A Better LA just like you would a football team.

“Just like you call a team together, he made the call, and we wanted to do it,” she said.

She said the diverse groups Carroll has brought together are now “team members, partners and friends."

Curtis Woodle, the department gang liaison supervisor at LAPD detective headquarters, said working with Carroll has helped him refocus his gang-suppression efforts.

Prior to meeting Carroll, Woodle said he had given up trying to fix the gang problem in L.A.

“I was just going through the motions, trying to do my job as a police officer,” said Woodle, who has been a police officer for 45 years. “He really helped me rethink the process of trying to help communities, especially in the gang-infested areas.”

Woodle said Carroll “rejuvenated” him and taught him how to “get deep inside the community and fix the real wounds, as opposed to putting a Band-Aid on them.”

He said, however, he was initially skeptical of Carroll and his motives. He wondered if Carroll was in it for personal gain, press or “Lifetime kinda stuff.”

“When I first met him, I thought it was a joke, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve never seen anybody with that type of respect and success in the sports world actually reach out with passion to try and fix areas that were really not his concern.”

But Woodle soon changed his mind. He said he has personally seen change in the areas Carroll has touched.

“I know for a fact that change has come in small increments,” he said. “And it’s starting to move to other areas; it’s a really good sign.”

Woodle said he’s seen “change in how people see themselves,” and believes Carroll is “really helping them take the negative stuff out of there and work with the positive.”

In light of recent controversy over Carroll’s reported $4 million annual salary, four times that of USC President Steven B. Sample’s, the gala proved that Carroll’s work on the streets is priceless.

“He’s what drives [A Better LA],” Center said. “We couldn’t do this without him.”

Woodle said he considers Carroll one of his heroes.

“He’s quiet and he doesn’t want acknowledgment,” Woodle said. “He just wants to get the job done. He doesn’t have to do it, he’s doing it out of his heart and out of his passion. It’s not a gimmick, and I’ve seen so many of those.”

Wagner said the mark Carroll has left will not go unnoticed.

“He demonstrates passion on the field and compassion on the streets,” she said. “I think USC is very lucky to have a Pete Carroll in its midst. He’s a coach with a smile who everyone wants to touch who touches everyone that he meets.”