For over 23 years, GYAC has offered life-changing programs for students in grades K-12. Most are part of disenfranchised, vulnerable Black families, with the majority being from the Gifford community. 53% of students live in a single-parent/grandparent household, and 41% live in a home with an annual income below $30,000.
Many of these students move away from the Gifford community after high school to seek career opportunities that are limited for them here. GYAC’s new Youth Employability Program will help create high-skill, high pay career opportunities for Gifford’s underserved, vulnerable students (mostly Black) that will allow them to remain in and help build a robust and vibrant community.
2019 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS) data show that adult Black workers are chronically underrepresented compared with whites in high-salary jobs in technology, business, life sciences, architecture, and engineering. Instead, they settle for jobs in lower-wage fields such as health support service, food preparation, building maintenance, and general or personal services. This is because Black youth who forego college cycle through retail, grocery, and fast-food service jobs from age 14 to 18. The Youth Employability Program has transformational implications. It connects students to job options that lead to high-skill, high-pay career opportunities when they graduate from high school. YEP students will gain exposure and job assignments based on their interests and career aspirations upon high school graduation. Whether pursuing a vocational career, post-secondary education, or immediate employment, YEP will expose students to job opportunities
in their field of interest. GYAC is providing a holistic support system to ensure student and program success. This support system includes careful selection of participants, assessments, training, mentoring, and on-the-job coaching.
The Youth Employability Program is a pilot program with two tracks. 1) Ten to fifteen students in 5th-7th grades will be placed on the “Introduction to the Youth Employability Program” track. YEP will introduce them to the basic foundations of youth employment and expose them to work settings that will pique their interest. Their work experiences will include job shadowing and/or work projects, depending on the student’s employability skill level and/or interest. 2) Ten to fifteen students in 8th-12th grades will be placed on the “Work-Readiness Training and Summer Work Assignment track.” The work readiness training provided during the school year will prepare participants to demonstrate the traits and behaviors valued by today’s employers and their paid-summer work assignment, which is based on their interests. A career plan is developed with the student and their parents to outline a continuum of YEP activities that are elevated each year through the student’s 12th grade in school. The program then matches students in non-subsidized employment that is tracked for retention and success for up to one year. These jobs and the year-long continuous support and mentoring from GYAC will be impactful, and help transform the participants from students to valued employees.
The Impact 100 grant monies will be used as follows over two years: Student wages/stipends, Program Director salary (partial), Worker’s Comp insurance, work attire stipends for students (as needed), OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) training, ISO (International Organization for Standardization) training, transportation costs (to and from workplace assignments), YEP promotional materials and advertisement.
GYAC will sustain this program beyond Impact 100 funding with (a) a robust marketing campaign that will brand the first-year success stories and testimonials, and broaden its current business community network and community partnerships; (b) targeted donor outreach efforts; and (c) pursuing grant funds specifically for this program.
GYAC’s management is led by individuals who have grown up, stayed, and prospered in this community. They are passionate about offering the same opportunities to the most vulnerable in their community.