More Than 8K Baltimore Youth Getting Summer Jobs As Part Of YouthWorks Program
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore Mayor Jack Young thanked top donors Thursday afternoon for their financial support of YouthWorks, Baltimore's summer jobs program.
He said thanks to YouthWorks, more than 8,000 Baltimore City youth between 14 and 21-years-old will be offered a summer job, for the fifth consecutive year.
"As a city, one of our most essential functions is to provide pathways to success for our young people. This tremendously vital initiative could not be this effective if it weren't for contributions like the ones we are recognizing today from The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase." Mayor Young said."
"Each of these organizations understands how crucial a strong summer jobs program is to the City of Baltimore in both the short-term and long-term – we are training the future workforce and providing productive opportunities for our younger residents."
The City reported that Annie E. Casey Foundation's $500,000 contribution will employ 321 youth in five-week summer jobs, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America each contributed $100,000-- which will employ 126 total.
YouthWorks 2019 will operate one five-week session from July 1 through August 2. Participants typically work five-hour days for a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour, but employers who provide the salaries may offer increased hours and wages.
Donors involved in support of YouthWorks say that they are proud to be a part of the program.
"When I was a young person in Baltimore City, I was going to high school at Western High when I wanted to get my first job it was a tough time for a young person to find a position," Sabina Kelly, of Bank of America, said. "For me, this is personal."
After four years with YouthWorks -- 18-year-old Life Chelsey graduates high school on Friday.
"Stay motivated, do what you got to do to be where you need to be and surround yourself with the right crowd because if you surround yourself with the wrong crowd you won't be nowhere," he said. "You can say you'll be somewhere but honestly you won't."
Chelsey landed a job on staff at DNR. The five-week program starts on July 1.
The applications for jobs this summer has closed, but it re-opens in January.
