In response to COVID pandemic, New Rochelle expands youth employment initiative
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- The COVID pandemic meant months of isolation and disruption in the lives of young people.
This summer, the city of New Rochelle is helping them reconnect, with a program to earn while they learn.
On Tuesday, CBS New York learned more on the big expansion in the city's youth employment initiative.
Young people are getting paid to develop business plans.
"That's basically a vending machine company. It's currently a partnership, but we want to develop it as an LLC," one student said.
They are training as videographers.
"You tilt the camera a bit. That is a 'Dutch angle' right there," one student said.
And exploring firefighting as a career for young women.
"I know there's people out there who are strong enough to do this job," student Rebeca Marin said.
Kelly Johnson is the executive director of the New Rochelle Youth Bureau.
"When we came out of COVID we wanted to make sure that we had a place for young people to go. Businesses were a little shy to bring kids on site, and so we created the 'Learn & Earn,'" Johnson said.
Students are paid to pursue enrichment in fields they find engaging.
"I got to meet new people. It was good to interact and also interact with the actual firefighters," Marin said.
This summer, the expanded program is serving special needs students, too. They are working at Access Equestrian in Mount Kisco.
"Really good teamwork. Teamwork in the beginning was a little challenging, but now, as you can see, they're working together quite well," Access Equestrian's Denise Avolio said.
Kathleen Gill, in her first year as New Rochelle city manager, made expanding opportunities for youth employment a priority.
"This year we hired more than 500 young people," Gill said. "We're actually hearing from the young people in our community. What they want is jobs. Makes them feel good about themselves. They like having the extra money. They want to put things on their résumé. They want to get experience."
"I'm a hard worker, I must say," Luis Tellez said.
As he was feeding goats, Tellez said his job made this summer the G-O-A-T.