Lakeport >> When it comes to entering the job market, disadvantaged youth face various barriers, ranging from poverty to those with criminal records. Many don’t have high school diplomas. But MendoLake Youth Works, a new non-profit program under WorkforceLake, is looking to change that by providing much-needed assistance. “We have a lot of disadvantaged youth and there’s not many programs to help them,” said Sherry Daly, the Youth Employment Training Specialist and coordinator of MendoLake Youth Works.
WorkforceLake is holding a Mendolake Youth Works Leadership and Career Engagement Orientation this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at their office in Lakeport, at 55 First St.
Daly and other program organizers have been working to get MendoLake Youth Works up and running since the beginning of the year. To run the program, they received federal funding from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which set the age range and other requirements. Program enrollees have be 16-24 years old and face difficulties such as homelessness, growing up in the foster system, being a parent or an expectant parent, spending time in a group home, being a runaway or high school dropout or possessing a criminal record. “Those are barriers to getting employment,” Daly said. “They have to learn how to deal with those circumstances and move forward with their lives.”
MendoLake Youth Works focuses on education as much as job skills. Those who have not obtained a high school diploma can enroll in the program’s charter school and work toward that goal. If they already have a GED but want a diploma, they can apply GED credits toward one. The requirement is that they are either a high school dropout or are on the verge of dropping out. If a counselors recommends an at-risk student for the school, WorkforceLake may be able to take them in and turn their situation around.
While WorkforceLake has had a youth program before, this is the first time they’ve partnered with John Muir Charter School so students can finish their education. “The youth really needed a good place they could go to get their diploma that wasn’t mainstream school because it wasn’t working for them. We’re hoping to provide them an environment that will be more learning-friendly for them,” Daly said. “It’s our hope that they learn how to like learning.”
While higher education may not have been on their radar before enrolling in the program, WorkforceLake hopes that once these young people are invested in school, college or vocational training will be the next step. In some cases, the program will help cover the costs of college textbooks or tuition for vocational programs. They award funds on an individual need basis and cannot exceed a capped amount.
Those who enroll in the program will also receive instruction on various occupational readiness skills including resume and interview work, networking and job retention. At-risk youth often never receive the necessary attention to cultivate these skills, which are required not only to obtain a job but to hold one down. Daly said that many of the people she’s met are homeless and they don’t have access to adequate food and clothing or a place to rest. “When they do get a job it’s a very minimal job,” she added. “They don’t know how to behave in a lot of instances. They don’t know how to conduct themselves. It’s not that they don’t want it to work out, they just don’t know how.”
The program also emphasizes learning strong leadership skills, which are essential for numerous collaborative work environments. Once they develop the skills to assist one another, WorkforceLake hopes they will flourish when working as part of a team.
WorkforceLake is working hard to deeply impact program enrollees. “We want to help them get long term employment,” Daly said. “We try to get them to go forward, not just to have a job but to have a career … to get that employment that’s going to be sustaining, something they can look forward to doing each day and something that can move them ahead.”
Even after completing the program, WorkforceLake will keep tabs on people for a year, checking in quarterly to make sure they’re still on track. If they’ve fallen off track, the program will take measures to help them back to the right course. It’s clear they’re committed to finding youths more than a job, but fulfilling life-long employment. “Our goal is that when they leave our program that they feel like they’ve been prepared for the adult world,” Daly said. “It’s our hope we better prepare them to meet the challenges of daily life and holding down a job and taking care of their family.”
Though the program focuses mostly on education and job readiness, Daly anticipates that community outreach will one day become an important aspect of MendoLake Youth Works. When that time comes, the enrollees can become more involved the community. She hopes community members will reach out to the youth with new vocational work they don’t currently have access to.
When Daly visited similar programs in both Santa Rosa and Grassy Valley, she saw firsthand the positive impact on the youth in those communities. Enrollees were obtaining diplomas and had plans to head to college or start their own businesses. In the Grass Valley Youthbuild program, they constructed tiny houses for auction. “I was profoundly taken with them because the youth were so exited about the program and they were doing so well,” Daly said. “The youth were ecstatic about the school. [They said] it was just wonderful to come some place where it was just like extended family and people really care. We hope that’s how they’ll feel here in MendoLake Youth Works because we really do care about them and we want to see them be successful.”
For more information call Sherry Daly at 262-2085.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
