Last month, the Young Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) held an open house for the purpose of informing Pathways students and community supporters about YEP's unique features and advantages. The program is a hands-on approach to learning about what it takes to start a project or a business that could become both a livelihood and a source of personal fulfillment. The YEP open house, held at the Community Business Center of the Reid Community Development Corporation in Glenn Dale, included an invitation for YEP graduates to speak about their experience.

 

The first YEP and Pathways alum to approach the podium was Richard Hyatt, (pictured above) a Pathways-Edgewood student who graduated seven years ago. During his three years at Pathways, Richard worked hard and benefited immensely from Edgewood's individualized, experiential, and flexible educational and therapeutic programming, which supported him in being employed while he pursued his academic goals. Richard participated in all the school's creative, alternative programs, including the YEP. When he graduated, Richard was prepared with both the knowledge he had gained and with a robust portfolio of employment experience that qualified him for further on-the-job training in building maintenance at NASA Goddard and the FBI. Later Richard moved to Martinsburg, WV, where he is assistant manager at a restaurant and plans to open his own building maintenance business. Richard spoke about the skills he had learned while at Pathways and in the YEP, which enabled him to envision himself as the self-employed and responsible adult he has become today.