Our Story

Many people think that trouble in our world just began this century. But truth be told, there has always been troubled youth, troubled times and trouble in our neighborhoods.

Sometimes it just takes one person or a group of people to say “Let’s make a difference: it doesn’t have to be this bad.” A group of young men calling themselves the “Cochér Car Club” was just this group. Many of them attended the same high school. Many of them played sports at the same park. Many of them were star players with a group called the Junior Harlem Globe Trotters started by Mr. George Williams.

The values they got at home, through their school, and neighborhood programs gave them the idea that things could be done in a better manner.

The Cochér Car Club has been in existence since 1956. In the beginning, they were better than Auto Club of America. They would help anyone stranded on the street and in need of help. This information got to the newspaper when a woman, that one of the club members helped, called the Press Enterprise and told them about this young black man who stopped and offered her assistance and got her on her way.

During the period of 1962 through 1995, during their child bearing and raising years they lost contact. But these young men continued to work hard and to step out on faith and succeeded here in the city of Riverside. They went about their jobs quietly and with the dignity and pride that caught the eye of their peers. Yet they did not boast nor brag about their accomplishments. They are the ones who saw the need and took up the challenge and ran with the ball. They are the shoulders we stand on.

They continue to provide support to the Riverside Community and to other car clubs in the area. But times have changed the need continues but the streets are no longer a safe environment for helping as it was in the past. But they continue to make an impact on our society daily through the church and community activities.