150 youth start jobs with Summer Youth Employment Program

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150 youth start jobs with Summer Youth Employment Program

Vanetric Washington, Dauntice Lear, and Brianna Hill all had at least one thing in common Monday: They were starting the first day of their first summer jobs.

They were among 150 high school students who showed up at a morning workshop before heading for work at various public and private businesses throughout Lexington as part of the Summer Youth Employment Program.

Washington, 15, a sophomore at Lafayette High School, will be working for the Lexington Housing Authority. Lear, 16, has a job with Community Ventures Corp. where he will help out with landscape work.

Hill, 15, a Tates Creek High School sophomore, didn't yet know where she would be working. All three of the young people said they would be saving the money they made to buy clothes for school.

The Summer Youth Employment program is an initiative of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. Young people are assigned to employers who line up jobs for them at no cost to the employer. The youth's salaries are paid by the LFUCG through the Department of Social Services.

They make $7.25 an hour for a 20-hour week, which includes 18 hours at their job sites and two hours in a workshop learning job skills.

This year the program received more than 400 applications from youth who wanted to work, said Mattie Morton, who oversees the program. Eligible youth are between the ages of 14-17.

The work assigned the students can range from clerical or computer work to landscaping or caring for young children.

At a time when summer jobs are hard to find, the Summer Youth Employment Program offers hope to young people just starting out in the workplace, said Tanner McDaniel. "The job market is pretty rough and this program gives kids like us a chance to get out there and work."

Tanner,16, a junior at Bryan Station High School, was at the workshop with his brother Jacob, 15, who will be a freshman at the high school. Tanner will be working with the Office of Employment Training while Jacob has a job with Community Action Council.

"I like this program a lot," Tanner said. "It's really very helpful."