Michigan Works teams up with unlikely partners for youth jobs
This spring, Michigan Works officials said there would not be enough jobs for young people.
With state and federal funding evaporating, they expected to place only 80 young people in its Summer Youth Employment Program.
“A lot of the kids are helping pay the bills. They’re not just buying jeans,” says Candace Elders, of Benton Harbor Michigan Works Association branch.
Most years they had been able to employ 200 workers. In 2009 they placed more than 800 in jobs with federal stimulus dollars, but that money has dwindled.
Excerpt:
That left Michigan Works scrambling to find new funding sources to get area youths out of the house, off the streets and into jobs. They tapped into nine funding sources and succeeded in placing 350 youth with 75 companies and organizations, including the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Berrien County Department of Human Services, Michigan Rehabilitation Services and Harbor Shores.
“People stepped up and chipped in,” Elders said.
For more on who got the jobs, read the rest of the story.
Source: Herald-Palladium
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