COMITE DEL AMOR TO PURCHASE ST. ISIDORE CHURCH

   In a historic moment, on the first of June 2007 the Comite del Amor, the Committee of Love, has reached a very congenial agreement with the Diocese of Orange to lease with option to buy St. Isidore Church and to open the doors at last! The lease provides the Comite the capability to immediately start fund raising to assure the ability to maintain the property, retrofit the church, institute programs for the elderly and the young, provide a open chapel for quiet meditation and, eventually , to purchase the property.

   It has been seven long years since the doors of little St. Isidore Church have been closed and the lights extinguished for what appeared to be the last time. This little Catholic church was built by the parishioners, Hispanic sugar cane field hands and Belgian dairy farmers, in 1922 and has served as a refuge to Mexican priests escaping persecution in their own country during the Twenties, withstood the great earthquake of the Thirties, provided momentary respite for thousands of soldiers, sailors, and airmen going off to war in the Forties was to become another victim of progress where the land was supposedly worth more than the purpose of the structure.

   However, a group of very determined hard-nosed individuals, parishioners and sympathetic neighbors, decided to fight to save this little landmark that has stood in the middle of Los Alamitos for more than eighty-five years. They formed the Comite del Amor, the Committee of Love, and petitioned the Diocese of Orange to reconsider this sad decision. To help in this “lost cause” endeavor have come many from all over Southern California including Architect Robert York Crockett from Beverly Hills, Civil Engineers Dr. Carla Yland and Thang Le through the Engineering Affiliates of UC Irvine, Liturgical Artist Bill Robinson from New Mexico and Attorney David Flax from Los Alamitos.

   It has been a grueling seven years of exhausting and often frustrating effort which gradually transformed from direct confrontation to begrudging accommodation to warm cordiality.. The Diocese of Orange has offered to sell the entire facility to the Comite to be used for liturgical and charitable purposes only. The price agreed upon by the Comite is $1,200,000. to be paid over a five year period. The church must still be retrofitted for earthquake safety which will require another $350,000. The Comite, in conjunction, with the We Care organization located on the site, will begin immediately to engage in a campaign to raise the funds necessary to bring St.Isidore back into the community!

  Upon opening, the facility will be named St. Isidore Plaza and the church will be a nondenominational chapel open to all who seek spiritual solace or to find a quiet moment with their God. The Sunday morning Rosary being presently conducted in the church hall will be held in the chapel itself. The chapel, with its beautiful stained glass windows, will also be made available to family and friends of patients at the Los Alamitos Medical Center with jitney transportation provided by the hospital. Coincidentally, the hospital and several local physicians have already offered to provide free medical attention to the poor, especially to the elderly and to the children.

   The patio will be restructured to provide shade trees, tables and some greenery to welcome local workers and visitors with a quiet location to enjoy their lunches and to rest their souls.

   The Comite has arranged with the Youth Center to serve as a satellite for an After School program to provide children from low income families located on the eastside of Los Alamitos a supervised study center from 3 to 6 PM on school nights

   The church hall must be renovated quickly to expand and accommodate these needs of the community. The We Care organization, one of the most active charitable organizations in Orange County in providing real-time assistance, is already functioning at full capacity to meet the needs of impoverished families with children. However, its director, Marty Thompson, is determined to extend even further We Care services to even more of the poor with the After-School programs and child care.

   With the proximity of the church to the Los Alamitos Reserve Training Base, the Comite will attempt to coordinate a regular prayer service to honor all service men and women and to pray for their safety in time of war.

   Although the chapel will be small, the needs of our community are many and the chapel will serve as the center for the response to these needs. A major resource for this response are the very residents of this community. Surely, it would be difficult to find a better concentration of highly skilled and successful professional, industrial and business individuals than here in Los Alamitos/Rossmoor and the surrounding communities.

   The Comite, operating with few funds and totally on Faith, invites everyone to examine their own strengths and to step forward and join us in this noble venture. Trying to decide if you should help? Why not call today and see how you can participate! What will it cost you to make this effort that you cannot afford? Remember a little Faith can accomplish great Miracles.

   TO JOIN THE COMITE OR JUST TO HELP WITH YOUR DONATION OF SKILLS, IDEAS AND/OR MONEY, CALL (562) 596-9918 TODAY!

Edmund Rusinek
(562) 431-6960
KENISURE@SOCAL.RR.COM

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