Program News 2008
An Amazing Achievement
"I go to graduations all the time," said Good Shepherd Division Director Joy Goldsmith at the first graduation ceremony for Good Shepherd Services' Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP), "but this one is really extra-special for me, when I think about where we all started and how far we've all come, it's really an amazing achievement."
A new initiative of the City's Center for Economic Opportunity YAIPs provide a 14-week cycle of intensive job readiness activities and subsidized internships to youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither in school nor working. Good Shepherd's YAIP opened in late 2007, and is based in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick.
"It was a brand-new concept for a program, and so together, we had to take a leap of faith and try something different," recalled Goldsmith, "We asked you guys to work hard, and you really proved yourselves. We get nothing but the best reports from internship site supervisors."
Twenty-three young people successfully completed the YAIP's first cycle and were honored for their efforts in a ceremony at Von King Cultural Arts center. The reception immediately following the ceremony was catered by a graduate, who had interned at Von King's Culinary Arts program.
At the time of the ceremony, over half of the graduates had either secured employment or enrolled in a college or GED program. Program Director Amy Hyman told the assembled graduates "I expect in the next few weeks that all 100% of you will be able to say that you are going to college, going to a GED program, re-connecting in high school, or employed." Nine months of follow-up services are provided to participants, and a peer mentoring program, which will connect graduates and current participants, is in the works.
"It's a great place," says Kris, one of the 23 graduates, "They really help you get back on track, and if you want to go back to school they will help you do that too. Everyone who isn't in school and doesn't have a job should give this program a try."
March 31, 2008
