Stark County Youth Program a Gateway to Success
(Canton, Ohio) – Gateway to Success, new program designed to provide employment and training opportunities to Stark County youth ages 18-24, recently graduated its first Job Readiness class. A graduation ceremony and celebration was held to mark the occasion among family and friends of the graduates. The program, a collaborative effort between Arbor E&T and The Employment Source, provides at-risk youth, such as ex-offenders; youth in or aging-out of foster care; migrant, homeless, or run-away youth; children of incarcerated parents; and low-income or drop-out youth with expanded opportunities to become self-sustaining adults.
After orientation, eligible youth are enrolled in classes designed to prepare them for work, train them in high-growth and high-demand occupations, and provide placement in jobs in sectors such as health care and manufacturing. The first class was a great success and graduated ten Youth Associates. Arbor Program Director Ronda Hobbs is pleased with initial outcome. “We have one [Associate] starting a welding class, three starting GED classes, and one who started working full-time,” said Ms. Hobbs. At graduation, “one of the Associates gave a speech, short but emotional, on what it meant to attend the class.” The Director also said that Anna Shahan, Job Developer and DaQuane Finley, Case Manager/Job Readiness Instructor played instrumental roles in the success of the initial program, and she is proud of their hard work and dedication.
Designed to serve 100 Stark County youth using American Recovery and Reinvestment funding, Gateway to Success has provoked a great community interest – in December more than 130 youth attended orientation. In addition to the job readiness skills and employment training, the program will provide career exploration and GED preparation.
