March 2020 Client of the Month

Maia

Age: 22
Position: Teacher Aide
Employer: Live and Learn Child Development Center
Employed Since: January 2020

Since her engagement in YJC’s Career Pathways Program, Maia has accomplished both her employment and education goals. From October through December 2019, Maia had been interning at Live and Learn Child Development Center as a Teacher Assistant Intern.  In those short three months, Maia  learned to prepare meals for children, maintain their hygiene, and monitor their health, as well as, their behavioral and emotional development. Maia provided the children with age-appropriate instruction and worked with parents to ensure that their children were learning and socializing in a positive way. After successfully completing her internship, Maia transitioned to full-time employment at Live and Learn Child Development Center!

While interning at Live and Learn Child Development Center, Maia was working on obtaining her Child Development Associate Certificate. And YJC is proud to tell you that since completing her internship and receiving her offer for full-time employment that Maia earned her Child Development Associate Certificate with Honors from Ashworth College! Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Maia has been let go as the Live and Learn Child Development Center has closed its offices until further notice. However, Maia has already secured a new employment opportunity at another daycare facility and is scheduled to start once daycares become operational again. In the meantime, YJC will continue to support Maia as we navigate this crisis together.

Congrats Maia on achieving your GOALS and keep up the hard work!

February 2020 Client of the Month

Michael

Age: 17
Position: Brand Associate
Employer: Old Navy - State Street
Employed Since: January 2020

Michael is a Junior in High School who was recently promoted from a Seasonal Brand Associate position to a Part-time Brand Associate with a very busy and consistent work schedule.

When Michael came into the College and Career Center to do his weekly check-in with his on-site Youth Job Center Career Advisor, he shared that he currently has a GPA of 3.0. Rightfully so, Michael shared that he is very  excited about his current GPA, because not only did he do very well in his challenging Honor classes, which are layered with Advanced Honor Classes this Semester, but with his current school subjects, assignments, regular tests, and employment, he is learning the art of Time Management.

Michael says that finding the right balance between school and work is not easy and it takes a lot of practice. He fully understands that developing good time management skills can help him stay on track and even help reduce his stress levels. And, staying organized provides him with more opportunities to spend with his family and friends.

Michael says a couple of organizing tips that he has found helpful are using a planner to keep his school deadlines organized and using the ShiftApp to stay on top his work schedule.

A couple of Michael’s organizing tips is that he says that he uses a planner to keep his school deadlines organized while he relies on a Shift App to stay on top of his work schedule.

Finally, Michael realizes that he can always drop in to meet with his Youth Job Center Career Advisor for support if he finds himself feeling anxious about projects, assignments, or even the upcoming Baseball season!

January 2020 Client of the Month

Marshawn

Age: 18
Position:  Prep Cook / Point of Sale
Employer: Helix Cafe
Employed Since: December 2019

Since his engagement in YJC’s Career Pathways Program, Marshawn has shown that no dream is too big to achieve. From October 2019 through December 2019, Marshawn interned at Helix Café as a Prep Cook. In those short three months, Marshawn learned how to make coffee, prepared the food items on the Helix Café menu, and provided quality customer service. It comes as no surprise that after successfully completing his internship, Marshawn was hired as a part-time Prep Cook / Point of Sale at Helix Café!

As Marshawn continues to work at Helix Café, he has BIGGER dreams he has set-out to accomplish. He is also focused on prioritizing his educational goal of obtaining his high school diploma, while also participating as a Peace Circle Keeper at Circles and Ciphers. As a facilitator, Marshawn advocates for young people impacted by violence. Through art -based peace circles, education, and direct action, Circles and Ciphers collectively heals and works to bring about the abolition of the prison-industrial complex.

Congrats Marshawn on your employment and advocacy!

December 2019 Client of the Month

Eduardo

Age: 18
Position:  Marketing Intern
Employer: KPMG LLC.
Employed Since: December 2019

Eduardo is a senior at Curie High School, where he participates in the Umoja Senior Seminar Class. As part of those seminar classes Eduardo receives a holistic set of services ranging from a Social/Emotional curriculum to Career Readiness resources and tools. Eduardo is on track to graduate from Curie in June of 2020 and, in the new year, is scheduled to begin an exciting new internship at KPMG LLC through the Urban Alliance.

Eduardo is excited about his paid internship opportunity, but he’s also excited to keep learning and gaining experience as he continues discovering his career path. As part of the internship Eduardo will participate in “Job Shadowing,” an essential component of the internship experience that provides Eduardo a chance to become familiar with the different jobs and departments at KPMG. Through the internship Eduardo will get the opportunity to participate in “hands-on” training and gain experience with the day-to-day activities of different KPMG employees.

Just recently Eduardo met with his Youth Job Center Career Advisor and shared the amazing news about his internship. After hearing about the opportunity, Eduardo’s YJC Career Advisor was able to connect him to a KPMG Executive Assistant who is very familiar with the work of Youth Job Center. The Executive Assistant was happy to look out for Eduardo, ensuring that Eduardo’s experience at KPMG continues to build on his personal development.

The Youth Job Center is proud and honored to serve & support Eduardo. We look forward to hearing more of his journey as a Marketing Intern!

November 2019 Client of the Month

Brandon

Age: 16
Position: Partner
Employer: Starbucks
Employed: June 2019

Brandon is a 16 year old client who is part of YJC’s In-School Youth Program. Brandon first encountered YJC while he was at school and desperately looking for a job. A staff member at school referred Brandon to the YJC Career Advisor at Brandon’s school. According to Brandon, “Before I found YJC I was completely lost on looking for a job. I am so grateful for the Youth Job Center because they helped me find my current job (which is Starbucks) and I couldn’t be any more grateful.” Brandon’s Career Advisor first referred Brandon to Starbucks, a YJC employer partner,  through an initiative called Project Englewood. The process was long but according to Brandon, “It was a great experience and it honestly the best preparation for my job.” Brandon also worked with YJC to become a participant in the organization’s This Way Ahead program, which is run in partnership with Gap Inc., another YJC employer partner.

Through his hard work Brandon was able to get a job at Gap on Michigan Avenue as part of This Way Ahead. Through the program Brandon says he was able to meet “so many amazing people” and he was able to connect with other YJC Career Advisors, Directors, and all the other amazing staff!

Brandon continuously works with his Career Advisor to identify his future goals and decided that he wanted to pursue a future career as a Marketing Director. “That job gives me a chance to flex my communication skills and also helps me to showcase my art,” Brandon says. As part of his journey to become a Marketing Director Brandon has begun filling out college applications and started building out his art portfolio even more. Brandon recommends YJC to all teenagers and is proud of the experience he has gained since coming to YJC!

Keep up the hard work, Brandon!

October 2019 Client of the Month

Yetunde

Age: 19
Position: Package Handler and Guest Service Representative
Employer: UPS and Navy Pier
Employed: November 2019

Congratulations to our October 2019 Client of the Month, Yetunde. Yetunde grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, where she graduated from Ideal Girls High School. She has a passion for helping others, and while in Nigeria, she mentored 3rd-8th-grade students. Growing up in Nigeria was tough because it's challenging to find a job. Yetunde moved to Chicago after her father applied for citizenship so her family could move to the United States, more specifically to Chicago for more opportunities.

Yetunde came to YJC after attending a local hiring event. After talking to a few employers and participating in the hiring in the event, Yetunde felt underprepared in the resume and interview department. At this event, she met YJC Career Advisor, Rose Chavira, who offered resume assistance and tips on how to successfully navigate the job fair. Rose told Yetunde about Work Readiness Training. The training was already in session, but Yetunde showed up the next day eager to get started and gain skills. Initially, Yetunde was very shy; the environment was new to her, and she had never been in a space filled with other eager youth learning interview techniques and resume development. As a result of Work Readiness Training and her determination, Yetunde was recently hired at Navy Pier as a Guest Service Representative and UPS as a Package Handler.

 We asked Yetunde:

By participating in Work Readiness Training, what did you learn?

"I learned how to be good to myself" and " how to handle conflict.”

"I also learned how to ace a job interview.”

Way to go Yetunde!

September 2019 Client of the Month

Josue

Age: 20
Position: Prep Cook
Employer: 10Q Chicken
Employed: September 2019

Congratulations to our September client of the month, Josue! Josue has made tremendous progress on his educational and employment goals. He is employed as a Prep Cook at 10Q Chicken in Evanston and attends G.E.D. prep classes at Oakton Community College twice a week. Josue is moving full-steam ahead toward his goals and spends every day of the week either at school or at work.

Josue’s path to success has not been without significant challenges to overcome. Josue came to Youth Job Center after a set of difficult experiences motivated him to seek out another path for his life. During his first meeting, he shared with his Career Advisor that he has been on his own for a long time and that he’s lost too many people he cares about for him to stay on the path he was on. Over time, he worked with his Career Advisor to create a vision for his life that aligned with his interests, values, and goals. He was able to pursue a variety of paid work experiences that lead to his discovery of his aptitude for culinary arts. Josue completed the training program at Curt’s Café and was able to leverage his customer service and food preparation skills into his current position with a local Evanston restaurant.

Through an incredible amount of strength and resilience, Josue did the work of learning new professional and social-emotional skills necessary to start building the life he wants and deserves.

These milestones are just the beginning! Josue is planning to continue his education and training in the culinary field to advance his career. Youth Job Center looks forward to continuing to partner with Josue on his journey.

August 2019 Client of the Month

Justin

Age: 23
Position: Brand Associate
Employer: Old Navy - Chicago Ridge
Employed: August 2019

On June 16, 2019 the Gap Foundation partnered with Youth Job Center to provide the “This Way Ahead” Program for the fifth straight year. This year the program placed over 170 youth from throughout the Chicagoland area in 10 week Internship for youth.  This Way Ahead provides youth with a paid internship that coaches them in learning excellent customer service skills that are critical for success in the workplace and can be transferred to a wide range of employment opportunities, allowing youth to continue building on these valuable skills throughout their continued post-secondary career journey.

One young adult named Justin Bonds was actually awarded the opportunity and this is Justin’s perspective on what he says the This Way Ahead Program did for him.

“The This Way Ahead program was truly beneficial to me in regards to my growth, not only as an individual, but as a person in the workforce as well. The managers at our Chicago Ridge store, including Sharonda, Carl, Kristen, amongst many others, showed myself and my associates ways to improve our efficiency as both workers and individuals in a way that few others could. For some, it was their first ever job and a way to break people out of their shell in regards to talking with customers and other associates, and providing the best customer service possible. For myself, I learned ways to be a more sociable and efficient person on the sales floor, something that I still would struggle with at times even with prior Retail experience. I am also so thankful to this program and Sharonda for giving me the opportunity and recommending me for a position in Loss Prevention, giving me a great opportunity to further my work experience and dive into something that could potentially be a career for me. Without this program and the amazing job coach and managers involved, I may not have had the opportunities and knowledge that I gained during these past couple of months.”

July 2019 Client of the Month

Caleb

Age: 16
Position: This Way Ahead Intern
Employer: Gap Inc.
Employed: June 2019

Caleb will be a junior at Mather High School this fall, and began working with YJC in April of 2019. Expressing interest in a first job with the Gap Inc This Way Ahead internship, Caleb attended a four day after-school training led by his career advisor Molly Berg and various managers of Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores. Upon completing the training, Caleb landed an interview and a week later was excited to accept the offer. Caleb began working with the Gap as a Sales Associate in mid-June, and after less than a month of working there, he was named his store’s “Employee of the Month” being the first intern to ever be awarded this title! Caleb is very motivated and helpful to all customers that come into the store, and has received multiple positive feedback reports from online surveys Gap customers have taken! His manager Courtney describes him as “dependable, pleasant to work with, and always having a positive attitude as well as responding well when challenged to step outside of his comfort zone.” When asked, Caleb says his favorite part about working at the store is “knowing that he can have support anytime and see new faces.” Congratulations Caleb and keep up the great work!