Westside : Friends Become ‘Brothers’

Although he lost his home in the Northridge earthquake, 9-year-old Eric Radulovic said something good came out of the temblor--he got a big brother.

The Jan. 17, 1994, quake demolished the apartment Eric shared with his mother, and the pair moved into a shelter set up in Santa Monica. It was there that Eric, then a lonesome 7-year-old, and shelter volunteer Tom Viscount befriended one other.

Viscount, 37, was in charge of organizing food for the 400-plus-person shelter. Eric, who is half-Egyptian, served as the translator for the small Arabic-speaking community.

After two months, Eric and his mother rented an apartment in Venice. But, after the activity at the shelter, Eric said he was lonely, and he put in a request for a “brother” with the Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles Inc.

Viscount, a singer, said while volunteering at the shelter he saw the importance of getting involved. So he signed up to be a Big Brother.

Eric had been waiting for a Big Brother for more than a year when he received Viscount’s call.

Viscount said he had not realized that the boy he had read about in the organization’s personal profile and then picked for a little brother was the same boy from the shelter.

Eric said that when Viscount called, he knew who he was, and said: “Tom, it’s me--Eric.”

Since they were reunited in March, the pair has taken trips to the beach and to the mountains, and Eric goes to sound checks with Viscount and his band.

“It was just me and my mom, I was so alone,” Eric said. “Now, all the other kids look at me with envy.”