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Greetings!
Why hire a youth?
Ask Briana, who earned wages and experience helping an office go digital by scanning documents. Ask Lily, who taught health facts to local children for a hospital system. Ask interns at a local start-up, who assembled a large order for an important client.
Then ask their employers, who accessed the youths' creativity and talent at low cost, and met their immediate project needs.
Hiring youth can give a business a competitive edge in identifying and attaining young talent. Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) helps by screening workers, readying them to meet excellence standards and a company's specific requirements. MyCom workers:
- Are available to "try out" as potential future employees for the short-term at low cost
- Can easily become the longest possible return for an employer
- Energize the existing workforce and can boost all-around productivity
Having a job benefits youth, too. Prepared youth contribute to thriving, economically stable communities. The alternative is youth on the streets, many dropping out of school and remaining unemployed, draining resources rather than paying back in taxes.
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Mentoring at Friendly Inn Settlement
MyCom talks with a current student and an alum about what the Friendly Inn Settlement means to them.
A lot of people have come through the doors of the Friendly Inn Settlement since it first opened in 1874. That's right, we're talking about 138 years of service in Cleveland. Since the 1990s a primary focus for Friendly Inn has been on youth, providing educational incentives, after-school and summer programs and trips around the United States and to the continent of Africa. Friendly Inn has also employed young residents.
Those programs are definitely paying off for the youth in our communities. According to a recent City Scan study, children who attended Friendly Inn programs regularly improved their grades and behaviors. For example, 91% of regular participants improved their grade point average; 98% demonstrated positive behaviors in group activities; and 90% demonstrated progress towards becoming self-sufficient and independent.
 An excerpt from an interview with Charles Taylor, director of MyCom for the Central neighborhood, and De-Angelo (photo, left and top), a senior at East Technical High School, is below. Read the full story.
MyCom: Charles, you originally got involved with Friendly Inn when you were about the age De-Angelo is today.
Charles: That's right. I was coming over for basketball after school. And before you could hoop you had to attend a group session for an hour. We would talk about current events in Cleveland and on a national or world level. We had the opportunity to talk about things that were happening globally that impacted us, and what we could do about them. That was the first time I felt I had the opportunity to speak and have my voice heard.
MyCom: Then, after you completed your degree in psychology you came back to your community and Friendly Inn.
Charles: Friendly Inn helped me gain a bigger picture of what's important. A larger perspective of myself. And I wanted to come back to see if I could help other kids see the bigger picture for themselves.
MyCom: De-Angelo, what does it mean to you to have someone like Charles coming back to the community to work with students like you? "De-Angelo is getting to know himself and recognize the potential and the talent he has." - Charles Taylor
De-Angelo: It definitely means a lot. He's one of many people here who keeps motivating me, and who keep showing me that there's a door open for me. Keep going. Don't stop. |
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Congrats to Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), MyCom's youth employment partner! On March 28, 2012, the Board of Directors at The Cleveland Foundation awarded Y.O.U. $500,000 for youth employment.
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MyCom Quick Connects
Youth & Parents:
After-school Programs for Any Age: Call Starting Point at 216-575-0061
Youth Leadership Teams (ages 13-19): Call Partnership for a Safer Cleveland at 216-523-1128 or download flyer.
Business & Community Professionals:
Access to Professional Development and Free Referrals for Youth Programs: Register your program in the MyCom Positive Activities database.
Networking: Meet people from other sectors of your community by joining a neighborhood team. Call Neighborhood Leadership Institute at 216-812-8700. | |
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Do you know, or are you a teenager looking for a job?
As of right now, MyCom employment partner, Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), has a limited number of openings for summer jobs, mainly in the City of Cleveland. They are working with others in the community to secure additional jobs. But no matter the number of positions, youth must be registered online to be eligible for a summer job.
Youth online registration opened at noon on Monday, April 2, and will close promptly at noon on Monday, April 30. Register now!
Youth job interviewing skills video
MyCom offers this video (.wmv Windows Media Video file) from our companion resource website, GetItFacts.org: "What should you do during a job interview?" It shows the right and wrong way (really wrong way!) to handle meeting an employer. |
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MyCom Talks Business on Kaleidoscope a collaboration of regional area hospitals and healthcare systems, to implement a three-year plan to benefit healthcare systems and the young talent they need to fill future positions.
Lisa Bottoms and Kimberly Moss, Workforce Development Specialist for the Summa Heath System, recently spoke to Leon Bibb of News Channel 5 about the need for increased youth employment opportunities in the healthcare field. |
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