Dick Gregory Dies at 84 Job Opportunity Freelance Stacy M
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Lighting The Road To The Future Dick Gregory Data Dies Zone at 84 Page 11 “The People’s Paper” August 26 - September 1, 2017 52nd Year Volume 18 www.ladatanews.com A Data News Weekly Exclusive THIS IS HOW YEP EMPOWERS YOUTH IN LOUISIANA Page 2 Newsmaker Fashion City Increases How Do Drainage Funding You Slide? Page 4 Page 7 Page 2 August 26 - September 1, 2017 Cover Story www.ladatanews.com How the Youth Empowerment Project Positively Impacts At-Risk Youth in Louisiana Youth Empowerment Project serves as an organization dedicated to developing soft and hard skills for at-risk youth. Photo courtesy of the Youth Empower- ment Project. What is YEP? oping respect, accountability, integrity, progress, and Eric M. Craig Editor New Orleans-based Youth Empowerment Project kindness . helps young people through community-based educa- Started in 2004, YEP assists the State of Louisiana While many organizations make it their mission to tion, mentoring, and employment readiness programs . by providing entry programs for at-risk youth . The empower the youth, this organization particularly fo- Most notably, the organization empowers youth by as- organization utilizes community-based reintegration, cuses on helping underserved youth in Louisiana by sisting them in developing hard and soft skills, which mentoring, prevention and intervention, and a team of providing opportunities for both soft-and hard-skill de- include trades, interview tactics and interpersonal re- YEP youth advocates . velopment . lationship management . YEP commits itself to devel- Cover Story, Continued on page 3. DATA NEWS WEEKLY P.O. Box 57347, New Orleans, LA 70157-7347 | Phone: (504) 821-7421 | Fax: (504) 821-7622 INSIDE DATA editorial: [email protected] | advertising: [email protected] Terry B. Jones Contributors Art Direction & Eric M. Craig Production CEO/Publisher Youth Empower- MainorMedia.com Edwin Buggage ment Project Cover Story . 2 Fashion . 7. Fauborg St. John Neigh- Editorial Submissions borhood Association Editor datanewseditor@ Glenn Jones Newsmaker . 4 Commentary . 9. Eric Craig Harvey Brown bellsouth.net tisfortay on Instagram Multimedia Editor Advertising Inquiries Delaney George datanewsad@ Calla Victoria Edwin Buggage 42 Tribes . .5 . State & Local News . 10 John Slade bellsouth.net Executive Assistant John McAdams Distribution June Hazeur Stacy M. Brown Data Zone . 6 National News . 11. Elvert Barnes/Flickr On The Run Accounting NOPD Courier Services Please call 504-309-9913 for subscription information or to obtain a back issue of the paper ONLY. Dated material two weeks in advance. Not responsible for publishing or return of unsolicited manuscripts or photos. www.ladatanews.com Cover Story August 26 - September 1, 2017 Page 3 All stories courtesy of Youth Empowerment Project Cover Story, Continued from page 2. Gerald’s Story Primary Program: Community- pretty positive impact on my Based Mentoring life,” said Gerald. Gerald was Secondary Programs: Trafigura first introduced to YEP as a Work and Learn Center’s Cre- child and took advantage of ative Digital Media Program, YEP’s Community-Based Men- Age: 16 Teen SET Program, toring Program. He then got Afterschool Program involved in our Teen Summer Employment Training (SET) When you find a place that Program, Afterschool Program makes you feel at home and and most recently he gradu- part of a supportive family, ated from our Trafigura Work you stick around. Eight years and Learn Center’s Creative ago, Gerald came to YEP as Digital Media Program. Gerald a middle school student and Gerald wants to go to college and now he is a high school senior. life has changed for the better. study computer science. When Gerald says he found out Gerald acknowledges he has he first joined YEP Gerald had about YEP from a brochure made major milestones and his sights set on becoming during a time when he was he credits YEP. “Now I’m calm an astronaut. Now he has struggling with managing his and collected. YEP hooked me different plans: “I want to be anger. Fast forward to today up with a job, everything is a software designer, a game and the 16-year-old says his going so well. YEP has had a designer.” Jerome Jupiter, Deputy Director of the Youth Empowerment Project. Photo courtesy of the Youth Empowerment Project. YEP has impacted a large peer-to-peer learning exchange range of age groups, with the between YEP and its Brazilian Landrea’s Story average age being 22 years old . youth employment organization Roughly 70 percent of incoming counterpart, Rede Cidadã, lo- Primary Program: Trafigura class at high school. YEP participants have an annu- cated in Belo Horizonte, Brazil . Work and Learn Center With encouragement from YEP al household income of under In the exchange, The YEP team staff and her teachers, Lan- $10,000, and 72 percent of YEP’s spent July 10th to 14th learning “I would be sitting at home drea graduated from The NET adult education students report from and sharing with Rede Ci- right now,” is how Landrea Charter High School and today being unemployed when they dadã . feels she would be spend- she continues to gain valuable arrive at YEP . While different, the two ing her time if YEP was not a job skills working at YEP. She The organization has a series teams will be able to learn new part of her life. The 19-year- is also preparing to pursue of programs including New Or- ways to develop more robust old graduated from YEP’s her postsecondary education. leans Providing Literacy to All youth employment programs . Trafigura Work and Learn “YEP helps young kids get a Youth (NOPLAY), which is an “The team at Rede Cidadã Center job training program job. Sometimes if they go out adult literacy program for out- put young people through soft in November of 2015 and is on a job interview, people tell of-school youth between the skill training, but their approach now a part-time employee at them they can’t get a job and ages of 16 and 24; The Village, is different than ours,” said Je- the bike shop. After complet- Landrea then they give up. But YEP which is a self-contained class rome Jupiter, Deputy Director ing the six-week employment helps them get a job and go that provides necessary support of the Youth Empowerment readiness course, Landrea is have blossomed thanks to the back to school,” said Landrea. for development; After school Project . now well-versed in customer program. However, it was not As Landrea looks to the future and summer camp enrichment “They teach soft skills service and bike repair, and an easy transition for Landrea, she is considering a profession programs; The Trafigura Work through dance and interaction . says her confidence skills who had trouble showing up to in childcare or cosmetology. and Learn Center, a critical job They try to really build confi- training program for youth ages dence in their group and hone 16 to 24 . At the Work and Lean the skills they really need to be Center, students work during successful .” a six-week training cycle in de- Jupiter and his team spent sign works, thrift works, and time with at-risk youth in Brazil, Darren’s Story bike works . visiting a juvenile detention fa- cility, interacting with advocates YEP Staff Member & Alumni Darren believes being a YEP YEP Learning Exchange and at-risk youth, and learning Primary Program: NOPLAY Alum-turned-Staff member While the organization had metrics and tactics from Rede is important for current YEP learned a lot from Louisiana’s Cidadã’s re-entry program . Darren Alridge has been an participants because some youth, it had the opportunity to In return, leadership from incredible asset to the YEP youth do not have close fam- partner with a similar organiza- Rede Cidadã, and staff from the community since he joined ily, or family invested in their tion in Brazil . International Youth Foundation our team in 2009. He joined lives. YEP is able to help these Earlier this year, The Inter- and the Robert Wood Johnson us at age 18 to work toward young people on a day-to- national Youth Foundation, an Foundation will join YEP Au- earning his GED, upon referral day basis and provide access organization dedicated to as- gust 28th to 31st to resume the from his judge. Then, in 2011, to resources. His words of sisting youth develop the lead- learning exchange . he joined YEP staff as a para- reflection: “Stay focused and ership, technical, and life skills “I’m looking forward to YEP professional who helps New keep your head up and good globally, chose YEP to partici- highlighting our work for them, Orleans youth prepare for the will come to you.” His favorite pate in its initiative called (Re) and keeping this relationship HiSET (formerly GED) exam, experience with YEP has been Connecting Youth: Exchanging going,” Jupiter said . “We think as he has “seen the need flying to Washington, D.C. to Global Lessons, funded by the a lot of metrics and evaluations Darren of some of the youth I work visit the White House – it is a Robert Wood Johnson Founda- are strong, and we want to share with,” and has chosen to work me happy to give back to my moment he will never forget. tion . them with them and have them with YEP because it “makes community.” Part of the initiative funds a take away from the process .” Page 4 August 26 - September 1, 2017 Newsmaker www.ladatanews.com City Increases Funding for Pump and Drainage Maintenance Data News Staff Edited warning system, and $500,000 to Report Chief Administrative Office for Root Cause Analysis . Addition- For nearly a month, conversa- ally, bond funds that were com- tions about the City’s Pump and mitted to other road projects will Drainage System have been at the provide $14 .2 million for catch top of every conversation .