Detroit's Summer Youth Employment Program changes lives

Martez Brooks, a 2006 graduate of Detroit Northern High School, says Detroit's Summer Youth Employment Program has provided more than a job. The opportunity has changed his life.

He didn't focus in high school. He found a $13-an-hour job at a Chrysler plant, but it didn't last for long. He was thinking of joining the Navy, not because of any particular interest in military service, but because he saw no other options.

Then, last summer, Brooks landed a $9-an-hour job directing a documentary film at YouthVille Detroit, a community program focused on building partnerships with young people. This led him to enroll at Ferris State University, up north in Big Rapids, in a broadcast media and video production curriculum.

This year's Summer Youth Employment Program starts in July, and program officials are taking applications in June from young people who were between ages 14 and 21 as of April 1. Applicants residing in the city of Detroit may pick up papers from program offices at 1300 Rosa Parks Blvd. or call 313-628-2230 for more information.

Jobs will last for six weeks, with 20 hours per week for younger participants and 25 hours for older applicants.

"The summer job made all the difference in the world for me," says Brooks, who used a good share of his income to help support his mother and his two younger sisters.

Participants in YouthVille's media project prepared a film on troubles linked to marijuana use entitled, "Where Will You Be When the Smoke Clears?" Brooks had a special interest because he already was involved in audio engineering for music production.

"Some of the City Council members came to see the film on a big screen," he recalls. "They asked what I was going to do, and I was still saying that I might go into the Navy. They said, 'Have you thought about going to college? Why don't you look into applying for some grants?'"

Business, nonprofit leaders step forward

The Summer Youth Employment Program traditionally employed between 2,000 and 2,500 participants with federal workforce development funds. In the summer of 2009, with an added $11.2 million stimulus grant from the highly publicized American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the count soared beyond 7,000. President Obama has pursued a stimulus renewal, but as of mid-June the proposal was stalled in the Senate.

With or without federal money, Detroit organizers are determined to move ahead, says Marissa Craighead, a marketing and communications associate for the local lead agency, City Connect Detroit.

About 60 Detroit business leaders have pledged to create summer jobs. They made pledges during a "Breakfast of Champions" event organized through Mayor Dave Bing, Compuware chairman and CEO Peter Karmanos Jr., and nonprofit Skillman Foundation president and CEO Carol Goss.

"Our attitude is that we have to make things happen," Craighead says. "It would be wonderful and amazing if we had those federal stimulus dollars again, but we realize they are in doubt. Instead of just accepting that fate, we're going to do this program, with or without the federal funding. We're engaging the nonprofit sector like never before, and we're encouraging the private sector to invest in the future of Detroit, which is the youth."

Karmanos told the breakfast audience that he was a "troubled youth" who had the good fortune to land a job in a company's newly formed computer department.

"That's how my company began," he said during the breakfast. "Important things can happen when you give kids a chance to find out who they are."

Participants support their families

Geneva Williams, City Connect Detroit president and CEO, says a survey of last year's participants indicates that more than one-third contributed income to household expenses, similar to Brooks.

"One way to stem chronic unemployment is to expose young people to the business environment and career options at an early age," Williams says. "Youth summer jobs are a win-win for corporations, for young people, for their families and for Detroit."

Supporters who desire to create jobs and/or contribute funds may call 313-879-1476.

Sources:

http://www.cityconnectdetroit.org/Article.aspx?id=57
http://growdetroitsyoungtalent.wordpress.com/