NORWICH – As the capstone to a month-long program which taught youth about work and the workplace, teens in the Summer Youth Employment Program gave their final presentations from the fifth floor of the Eaton Center in Norwich on Friday.
The Summer Youth Employment Program is a collaboration between The Place in Norwich, the Chenango County Department of Social Services, and the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance that provides young people from low-income households with valuable work experience and a paycheck. Kids ages 14-18 who are TANF eligible or 200 percent poverty level were eligible to take part in the program which put them to work with municipalities, non-profits, and human service organizations throughout the county.
The state provides finances for teens’ paychecks; and the work done – be it anything from painting at the Chenango County fairgrounds, building fences at Wolf Mountain Nature Center in Smyrna, or doing odd jobs for the Cornell Cooperative Extension – benefits the community. It’s a win-win, said Eileen Hoffman, the person contracted by The Place to facilitate the Summer Youth Employment Program.
“Kids were all over the county. This is a very diverse program and they all did a great job,” said Hoffman.
In addition to the state mandated components of teaching youth about topics like financial literacy, workplace readiness, resumé building, and the importance of “dress for success,” Hoffman said that the program also honed in on societal issues, including family planning and drug abuse.
“Really, the entire program is all about self-development and confidence building for them,” she added. “Every year, great things happen for these kids and for the community.”
“It helps a lot of places because they don’t have any paid positions,” said Matt Craig who lead a small work crew at Wolf Mountain Nature Center. “That’s the great thing about this program: It helps the community and it helps these kids prepare for jobs.”
This year, the Summer Youth Employment Program provided 54 TANF eligible kids and seven crew leaders with job opportunities. On Friday, the final day of the program, participants were versed in presentation skills and interviewing conduct that will help them land a permanent job in the future.
“It’s trying to get them prepped in the mindset of what to prepare themselves for in the workplace,” said Alana Golden, a board member of The Place and Human Resources Director for the Norwich City School District. Golden was among several volunteers conducting mock interviews with kids in the Summer Youth Employment Program on Friday. “This has been a good experience for them, and it’s been good to have a separate classroom aspect. They’re not just doing work around the community, but they’re also trying to learn some things that they can take with them.”
“This program is designed for work readiness. It’s designed to give them work experience, but also training and interviewing experience. It really builds on their presentation skills which they may not have at this point,” said The Place Interim Director Kecia Furnaro-Burton.
Furnaro-Burton added, “This definitely gives them an opportunity that they may not have had otherwise. The Place is very proud to oversee this program and to be part of it. It’s very important to us.”