Newspaper Article : Toronto Sun
March 23, 2008
A JOBS PROGRAM THAT WORKS
Sue-Ann Levy
'Making a small difference to a significant number of youth in this city'
Stephen Webb's grandmother used to watch the news and pray it was not her grandson whenever some young man got shot in Scarborough.
Now his grandmother is really proud of him, the 21-year-old says.
He's working full-time in the continuing medical education department of the Canadian Heart Research Centre (CHRC) setting up meetings for doctors, as well as keeping track of payments for those meetings.
He obtained his general high school equivalency certificate last December with an 86 average and is taking a course to improve his writing skills.
Looking back, Webb says there's no doubt in his mind the "potential was there to get into trouble."
His new life began one year ago when his probation officer referred him to the Toronto Youth Job Corps (TYJC) program run out of the West Scarborough Neighbourhood Community Centre.
The TYJC program is one of three key employment programs that are part of Mayor David Miller's highly hyped community safety plan aimed at high-risk youth in 13 priority neighbourhoods.
Webb was on two years' probation (although the charge against him was dropped) and with just Grade 11 under his belt, was having a hard time finding work in the winter when he could no longer do construction work.
When he arrived at the community centre last March, TYJC staff took him under their wing -- teaching him life skills and assessing his abilities over four weeks. When program coordinator Donovan Minott heard Webb tapping away at a computer keyboard outside his office, he thought he might be suited for data entry work.
"I got really nervous," Webb said during a recent meeting.
But the rest is history.
After a 16-week trial doing data entry work -- and another eight weeks ordering the institute's office supplies -- his boss asked him to stay on, provided he finished his high school credits. His boss paid the $630 fee and gave him Mondays off with pay to study for his high school equivalency certificate.
What Webb never realized was the kind of mentor he'd become to his two younger brothers, 7 and 12.
"They're also really proud of me," he said. "They want to grow up like me."
Alecia Benjamin, 24, has had the same meteoric rise since finding her way to Minott's Scarborough TYJC program three years ago. The George Brown-educated dental assistant had spent a discouraging six months trying to land a job.
"I almost went in (to the TYJC program) with tears in my eyes," she said.
After the TYJC staff "boosted" her up a bit and put a shine on her resume, Minott discovered there was an opportunity with his own Scarborough dentist.
That was three years ago next month. Now Benjamin's employer has put her on the front desk and is grooming her to manage the office, even paying for her to take management courses.
Minott says many kids just need a little bit of support. "If you just give them the ball, they'll run with it," he said.
I must admit I've been skeptical about the city's youth jobs strategy and have made no secret I think that much money has been expended with few results.
But after meeting Benjamin and Webb, and hearing their stories, I feel much more encouraged that good work is being done. That the $1.4 million of city and federal money spent to fund the three Toronto Youth Job Corps agencies is useful.
Which brings me to 28-year-old Deborah Walters, a single mom of a two-year-old son, who despite her shyness wanted to talk about her experience with the Partnership to Advance Youth Employment (PAYE) program, another key jobs strategy jointly operated by the city (with no extra funding) and a healthy list of high-profile private sector employers.
"I want youth to know they should give it a try," she told me recently.
It was last March when Walters was approached in Lawrence Square by a community outreach worker inviting her to an information session on PAYE, then a new initiative for youth that would provide "real jobs with real salaries." She attended the first session but feeling "bogged down and under a lot of pressure," she didn't go to the second.
A city worker subsequently contacted her, not taking no for an answer. At the third session, where Walters was presented with a list of employers and potential jobs, the coaches she spoke with told her she wasn't aiming high enough.
THREE JOB OFFERS
"It goes with being in a certain socio-economic status ... I didn't think I was good enough," she said.
After five different interviews over two days, she was handed three job offers. Walters picked the job of assistant to Steve Diamond of Diamondcorp, who is also the volunteer chairman of the PAYE committee. She started off with a six-month contract but then was asked to stay on with a "raise and benefits."
Diamond said he's found Walters to be "excellent."
He said they started the PAYE pilot in Lawrence Heights last year and are now in their second year -- "still crawling along but starting to walk."
While he and his PAYE committee have had to do "a real selling job to the business community" to get more companies involved, he believes the program is very worthwhile.
"I'm very proud of the work we've done," he said. "I think it's an excellent initiative that's making a small difference to a significant number of youth in this city."
To find out more about PAYE and the 2008 Recruitment Initiatives please contact Bryan Dale.