Music and art classes - once standard in all schools - are luxury items for low-income families struggling to meet monthly expenses. Yet children with low self-esteem who live in communities that have histories of violence and gangs are the ones who can possibly benefit most from such "luxuries."

From this philosophy comes La Casita de La Virgen, a music and art program at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish, for disadvantaged children and youth in the La Colonia area of Oxnard.

The program was created by Trotsky Barreto and his wife Gloria Hidrogo, parishioners and music ministers at Our Lady of Guadalupe for 22 years, and owners of the Art and Music Factory music school in nearby Port Hueneme. Having been active in numerous community art and music programs, including the Boys and Girls Clubs, Barreto and Hidrogo wanted to bring the arts into the lives of young people especially at risk.

Missionary of the Holy Spirit Father Roberto Saldivar, Our Lady of Guadalupe pastor, welcomed and embraced the idea of the arts program, and has opened the school grounds and parish hall to accommodate the twice-weekly classes, with a total of about 70 children.

"Our mission is to change attitudes, to give young people the opportunity to do something positive, to show them there is a life outside gangs and gang violence, and to build self-esteem," explains Barreto, adding that a lot of young people in the area do not have access to after-school programs of any kind.

"We bring a religious aspect to this program," adds Hidrogo. "It is different than what happens in community programs. Even our logo - the praying hands of Our Lady of Guadalupe - we explain to the children that her hands form a little house, a safe house, where they can focus their minds on music and art, and get to know God."

The program is wide ranging, offering piano, guitar, voice, percussion, dance and art classes to children and youth ages 5 through 17. Teachers are volunteers who are proficient in music and love working with the children Hidrogo, a native of Zacatecas, Mexico and a graduate of Bellas Artes, and Barreto, a music conservatory graduate born in Peru, together oversee the operations program. Both are convinced that the power of music and art, and believing in God, can change young lives.

"You put a guitar in the hands of a kid, and it becomes a transforming experience," Barreto says enthusiastically. "He begins to believe he can accomplish something, and that becomes important in his life; it gives him something positive to do."

Justin Beranich, guitar and drums instructor, and an Oxnard city planner during the work-week, enjoys volunteering his time for the community youth. "The kids don't have this kind of opportunity in or after school, but they take this program and discover so much about themselves," he says. "It is really meeting their needs."

Having the parish church as a setting opens an avenue of social and spiritual growth for neighborhood children who may not have thought of church as a place to gather. Barreto stresses that instead of being idle or socializing on the streets, they have somewhere to go and something fun to do.

"The fact that we offer our youth a peaceful place with something to do that builds their self-esteem and lets them explore their creativity gives them a reason to come to church," he says.

The musical instruments used during the classes are guitars and pianos that have been donated by members of the community, including Oxnard mayor Tom Holden who donated the first guitar. Barreto says they accept used instruments that might need some repair, or instruments that people just aren't using and want to give away.

In piano classes, children are divided into groups by age (6-10 and 11-17), and are taught to read music and play music on the keyboard. While the majority of the students are at the beginner level, Barreto and his teachers have big plans - concerts featuring the students every two months and eventually a youth orchestra for the parish. The young people seem up to the task and approach their lessons with enthusiasm.

"I have always wanted to learn about music," says David Cabrera, 13, who is taking both piano and guitar classes in the program. "It's fun," agrees Priscilla Verduzco, 15, a beginner in her first month of classes.

Barreto and Hidrogo involve parents in the program, asking them to take turns supervising the students, and utilize both adult instructors and youth assistants who are called "student instructors." Jamie Glass, a high school student from Camarillo, has been a student instructor with Barreto for about a year and says his involvement has resulted in some of his high school friends wanting to get involved in the program.

In the art classes, a very resourceful Hidrogo teaches the children the techniques and styles of famous artists, and then proceeds to challenge the children to find uses for all of the donated art materials that she collects. The result is both educational and useful.

"We can make three different handbags with one pair of old jeans," Hidrogo smiles while displaying the finished products. She explains that the children enjoy making something for themselves and creating unique designs while recycling things. Promising to put to good use all common materials - buttons, markers, seeds and scores of other items, even large tortillas for painting canvasses - she proves that art does not have to be an expensive class for children.

Hidrogo's resourcefulness doesn't end with her art classes. Needing money for more instruments and materials, she and Barreto are now in the process of establishing La Casita de La Virgen as a non-profit organization. To boost donations, Hidrogo put on her dancing shoes, took salsa lessons from a professional dancer and recently entered the Oxnard Salsa Festival dance competition to help raise money for the program.

Barreto and Hidrogo's own children are very active in the arts. Son Hugo, 17, plays guitar and daughters Michelle, 13, and Nikitta, 7, both play piano and dance. Michelle and Nikitta also participate in the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration held annually at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles.

In addition to long-term goals of a youth orchestra and youth choir or the parish, Barreto and Hidrogo and their teachers have given their students a shorter-term goal: to perform in a family festival on the parish school grounds on October 11. Barreto want the children to be confident enough to play at Mass in the future, "so they can show themselves that they can do something that is for the community, something that is with God at the center."