When you are a teenager, employment is hard to find. When you live in South Providence and don’t have transportation, employment is hard to find. When you are a teen in South Providence, jobs are almost impossible to find.

A research summary conducted by the Annie E. Casey Foundation concluded, “A continuum of work experiences from the teen years and on … including summer and part-time jobs … builds skills, knowledge and confidence. These encompass not just workplace and financial skills but the broader ‘soft skills’ of working in teams, taking initiative, focusing on and solving problems and learning how to contribute.”

Failing to develop those work and life skills can have lifelong consequences. “Work itself is the strongest and most effective (workforce development) ‘program,’” the Casey report continued. “Early job experience increases the likelihood of more work in the future.”

Conversely, “Studies show that youth who miss out on an early work experience are more likely to endure unemployment and less likely to achieve higher levels of career attainment later.”

With your help we can provide jobs and leadership development for teens in South Providence. We were able to have 32 teens here last summer! Most received a stipend or some monetary compensation! ALL of them received leadership and job training; college/career planning; and lifelong friendships and memories!

This summer we hope to have at least 32 teens participate in a 9 week program at Louie’s Place Summer Camp, (a licensed, full-day camp for children 5-17). In addition to working with the kids in the program, our teams will learn:

• Work Readiness: Interview/Resume Skills, Computer Literacy, Professional Behaviors
• Training/Workshops: Food Safety, Disease control and Prevention,
  CPR/First Aid, Conflict Resolution and Non-Violent Problem Solving
• Educational Support and Life Skills: Financial Literacy and Money Management, Public Speaking, College Planning, Skills and Interest Assessments, Career Exploration

By the end of the summer most of our teens will have volunteered over 400 hours of service! They will also gain valuable work and life experience. Each one will have the opportunity to work with different age groups, in a variety of activities, including sports, games, literacy, arts & crafts, cooking, and more. They will also be responsible for at least one original presentation to the campers on a topic of their choice. Some examples are Substance Abuse Prevention, Staying in School, Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles.

It is time for our annual plea for Camperships and $100 X 100 campaign for our YLD/Teen summer programs! Read the letter explaining the $100 X 100 if you are not familiar with it. Download the flyer. Please share them with any friends/colleagues who might want to help! The teens are as vital to our program as the program is to their success! We will also be looking for YLD trips and “rewards” for this awesome group of young people!

We are also looking for campership funds for children of all ages! With breakfast, lunch, recreational and educational activities and trips, staffing and supplies, it costs much more than our ‘co-payments” of $50+/week (which is much more than most families in this community are able to pay). We rely on donations, grants, and camperships to make up the difference.

Please consider how you can help the youth of South Providence this summer.

Contact Amy Thomas, Youth Program Coordinator, South Providence Neighborhood Ministries (401) 461-7509 or amy@spnm.org