ORLANDO, Fla. — An initiative with the goal of providing on-the-job training for teens and decreasing youth crime is nearing a decade since its start. Known as the Summer Youth Employment Program, this year it is helping more than 600 teens find work over the summer with local businesses.
Orlando city Commissioner Regina Hill said that she was approached about the youth program by a former Orlando Police Department officer in 2014.
"We saw an uptick in youth crime during the summer break," she said.
To combat those numbers, she says the program was started with the goal of providing opportunities in the Parramore and Mercy Drive areas — to keep students busy with jobs and give them less free time to make poor choices.
Hill said in the first year, 200 students entered the program and there was indeed a decrease in crime. Since then the number of students interested and the business owners willing to take on the opportunity to mentor and prepare the future workforce have grown.
A great example of the initiative's objective is 19-year-old Isaiah Black, who entered the employment program while he was in high school about two years ago. Black said he was already working but wanted to get a second job to help provide for his family. A friend of the family mentioned the youth employment program, and Isaiah said he was sold.
Born and raised in the Parramore area — surrounded by violence and sometimes death — Black said there were times that the weight of his environment became overwhelming.
“I’ve had a couple of friends, or a couple of kids that I’ve known, that have been in situations like that," he said. "And some have even lost their life."
However, when Black got a summer job at Blue Swan Boulders through the program — learning everything from interviewing and work performance skills, financial literacy and rock climbing — he said a whole new world opened up for him.
"Once I got into this, it was just super fun," he said. "I really liked it a lot and it kind of became a passion where I was always here and not hanging out with my friends.”
Black said it was an opportunity he never imagined having, remembering with a laugh that he once thought he wouldn't enjoy the job. Now he is out of the program and has officially signed on as a long-term staff member.
Black said he fell in love with the experience immediately, and through the program, he learned to value the job and the rock climbing community.
“It’s definitely probably gotten me out of a lot of situations," he said. "I’ve always been like, 'No, I can’t do this I’ve got work.' Certain people that were probably a bad influence, even though I didn’t see it at the time, definitely don’t talk to now."
According to Hill, that is the exact purpose of the program. As a product of the Parramore community herself, she said that a similar opportunity that was given to her as a child. She got her first job when she was 12, and Hill said the opportunity helped end to a lot of her emotional struggles.
“It just, you know, allowed my mother not to have to worry about anything that were true necessities in the household," she said. "And that was keeping the lights on and the rent paid."
Hill said the parallels between her story and Black's are good examples of the impact an opportunity can have in underserved communities. While both Hill and Black acknowledge that a person has to want to find his or her way out of difficult circumstances, just having the opportunity plays a major role.
Hill said she's happy to see the interest in the program continuing to grow among the young people in her district, and she's hoping that local businesses will also keep up the momentum.
According to Hill and Career Source Central Florida, there is still time for businesses to get involved. Students will be partnered with jobs that closely fit their future career goals, or jobs that might spark new aspirations like Isaiah.
The applications for student participants are closed for the summer. For more information, visit to the Summer Youth Program's website.