450 Charlotte Youth Hired For Summer Jobs With Stimulus Funds (Stimulus Watch)

Federal money could put 450 teens in jobs



Federal stimulus money could help about 450 Charlotte teenagers get summer jobs – and provide free labor for local companies.

The City of Charlotte, NC has received about $1.5 million to employ disadvantaged young people between the ages of 16 and 24, said Brad Richardson, the city's business retention manager.

The money will help train the temporary young workers and pay their salaries – about $8 an hour. It's a good deal for businesses suffering in the recession, Richardson said.

“Employers can get free workers through the stimulus,” he said.

Leola Smith, director of an academic summer camp off Statesville Avenue, has taken on seven stimulus-funded workers. She says they're workers she couldn't have afforded, and they provide more one-on-one attention for the children at camp. The local Goodwill Industries center, which found her the workers, also does background checks on them and screens them for child-care suitability.

“The youth that we have coming in are doing a wonderful job,” she said.

The stimulus money is also helping teenagers find jobs in a particularly tough job market. As the national unemployment rate hits 9.5 percent – a high not seen in 26 years – young people are being pushed out of the job market. Richardson said some area companies that normally hire teenagers for the summer, such as Carowinds, have seen a lot of adult applicants this year.

“You've got adults out there competing for teenage jobs,” he said.

Victoria Patton, 22, had difficulty finding work because of a shoplifting arrest when she was 16. She had recently left a late-night shift at Wendy's after going through two robberies.

“I was working until 3 o'clock in the morning and it was kind of dangerous,” she said.

Then she found out about the stimulus program and got a position at Smith's camp. She hopes her hard work and the references she gets will boost her job prospects later. She plans to go back to school for early childhood education, she said.

The city is not spending the Federal money directly.

Instead, it is distributing the money through the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board to four area agencies that have experience training workers and placing them with employers: Goodwill Industries, Urban League Central Carolinas, Arbor Education and Training, and Friendship Community Development Corp.

Those agencies also make sure the young workers fit the stimulus program's qualifications. To participate, the workers must meet federal poverty standards or receive government assistance, and have one of the following barriers to employment: be in or aging out of the foster care system, be homeless or a runaway, be a high school dropout, be an ex-offender, be pregnant or a parent or be deficient in basic math or literacy skills.

Susan Furtney, local director of career development services for Goodwill, said the program essentially gives employers an eight-week “paid interview” with the young people. She said she's confident many employers ultimately will decide to hire them on.

“They'll make a strong connection and want to hire these youth,” she said.



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Sources: The Charlotte Observer, Charmeck.org, Google Maps