By Beverly Danquah
On Wednesday February 25th, I was among the hundreds of teens who went to Albany to represent NYC for the 17th Annual Youth Action Day in the Campaign for Summer Jobs 2015. Our goal was to speak to as many state legislators as possible in the short time frame we were given, in order to obtain an increase in funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program.
We met with nearly 60 State legislators asking them to work with the governor to ensure that the state would invest an additional $4.81 million to cover the jobs lost by the minimum wage increase, and to urge them to add an additional $14.5 million so that the program can increase capacity by 10,000 jobs for a total of $49.31 million.
Preparing to address State legislators.
One must also take into consideration how beneficial Summer Youth is. SYEP is a program that helps young people to better understand the value of hard work, financial management, and responsibility. The values that we are taught through employment are ones that we can instill in others; be they our peers or family members. We gain knowledge ranging from workforce ethics, to learning about professionalism, to being taught work etiquette.
Summer Youth’s existence has allowed teens across the city to utilize their time in the summer building their resumes and range of experience while making money. If it weren’t for this program, many of our youth wouldn’t be where they are today, and wouldn’t be so dedicated to furthering their studies to reach their goals and eventually, their dream job.
I gave a speech (an excerpt of which is quoted below), in front of hundreds of teens as well as state legislators and adults who strongly believe in this cause.
“I personally took part in summer youth’s employment program for my first time last year, working as a secretary/food distributor for 6 Catholic Charities Feeding Our Neighbors Food Pantries, located in Staten Island and Harlem,” I said towards the start of my presentation. “I cannot begin to stress how much of an impact this job had on me, and how much I learned. From traveling to and from each pantry and getting a sense of each neighborhood’s community, to signing people up for a bag of food, the experience allowed me to make a difference in people’s lives while bettering myself.”
“I learned to appreciate what I have, ” I continued, “and worked on my people skills, as I was seeing over 300 people with 300 different personalities every day. Feeding Our Neighbors is a weekly food pantry, but participants can get food only once a month. One memory that stays with me to this day is a family of four who came to the pantry to get a bag of food. They had been there once that month already, so unfortunately I had to turn them down. I was so upset that I wasn’t able to give them food, that I spoke to my supervisor asking her to make an exception for them. I was overcome with happiness that I was able to make a difference in a family’s lives. Although it wasn’t much, I know it went a long way for them.”
Beverly Danquah at the podium in Albany.
After my speech, I met with state legislators and told each of them about my experience with Summer Youth. Through my conversations with Assembly members such as Gary D. Finch and Michael J. Fitzpatrick, I was able to network as well as relate to them in a way that they could connect back to their respective districts.
Going to Albany to advocate for summer jobs gave me the inside scoop on exactly how our government operates. It was fascinating to me that even with all of the talking we did, the end result is truly up to Governor Cuomo. Moving forward, I hope to continue following up with the state legislators to ensure that the budget will be raised. This would be a great investment in our state’s youth.