As the weather warmed and school came to a close, 17-year-old Michelle Fletcher decided that this would be the summer to find her first real job.
The trouble was, with unemployment rising, Ms. Fletcher wasn’t the only person looking for summer work.
“I am trying to get some experience, trying to get something to put on a resume, but I had trouble looking for a job,” the LaFayette High School student said.
TO LEARN MORE
For information about the Summer Youth Program, call the Coosa Valley Regional Development Center at 800-332-1965 or e-mail tmorgan@cvrdc.org. Youths residing in Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker and Whitfield counties are eligible to apply for the program.
Hoping to combat the jobless rate among youth, agencies in North Georgia are offering job training and summer employment for low-income students ages 14 to 24.
Ms. Fletcher is among 90 students in Catoosa and Whitfield counties benefiting from a $60,000 federal stimulus grant to form a Summer Youth Program being run through the Youth Success Academy at Northwestern Technical College in Rock Spring, Ga.
The Youth Success Academy is one of many agencies and nonprofits in North Georgia receiving stimulus grants through the Coosa Valley Regional Development Center.
Vince Stalling, services coordinator with the Youth Success Academy, said his organization is training students to look for and keep a job and will place them at a position from June to September.
Students work for the employers for free since the grant provides money for their pay at minimum wage, $7.25 per hour. Private, public and nonprofit employers have partnered with the program, he said.
Before going to their work, a two-day training class will teach them how to communicate with their employers, manage money, fill out applications, interview and dress for a job, said Mr. Stalling.
Counselors will check in with the students throughout the summer to monitor their performance, he said.
“We hope at the end of the journey we are training them to be successful,” he said.
Without the program, Skylar Jones, 23, said he would not have found a job this summer.
A Walker County resident who attends Berry College, he said he hopes to learn more about work ethic and professionalism through working and receiving training.
“I didn’t have anything else turn up,” he said. “It think it is a good opportunity and I would have had trouble getting into the job market, especially like it is right now.”
