Do Something Summer Jobless Grant Winners!

This summer's teen unemployment rate has been marked at a whopping 75%--compared to 2000 when it was 55%. Read about our winners who created local initiatives to involve young people in their community this summer!

$2,000 WINNERS

Alex Epstein, 20

The Philadelphia 2 New Orleans Youth Alliance for Social, Environmental, and Food Justice

North-Central Philadelphia has 39% land vacancy, 41% obesity rates, and 46% unemployment rate. To address these social issues, Alex founded the Philadelphia Urban Creators (PUC) to work in conjunction with organizations in New Orleans to improve urban communities by working with youth to develop urban farms. From July 13th to August 31st 50 teenage volunteers from North-Central Philadelphia will transform a 2 acre plot of vacant, overgrown land into an educational urban farm as part of their summer Youth Organizer Training program. These young people will have safe and productive volunteer opportunities in the absence of jobs. Over the next year, Alex will continue to work with these 50 students to further develop this farm until it reaches peak production by July 2012. The Summer Jobless Grant will go towards shovels, rakes, seeds, lumbar, and more tools for the farm. The most committed volunteers will be employed as farm managers to lead future youth projects at the farm and oversee the production.

Alexa Gilbert, 17

1st Annual Love the Children

Alexa and members of the Del Mar Do Something Club see homeless families around their community. In their home state of California there are approximately 300,000 homeless children. Due to state budget cuts, shelters are having a hard time meeting the needs of these homeless families. Alexa and her Do Something Club are volunteering time to get to know the children and donating care packages to improve their lives in the community shelters. The packages include water, clothes, shoes, toys and letters. The friendships between the Do Something Club and children at the shelter bring happiness and encouragement to both groups of teens.

Christina Urbanczyk, 20

Homelessness Network

Over 30% of Humboldt County residents are living below the poverty level. The children who suffer from poverty not only struggle with everyday needs, but also unequal educational opportunities. Christina and the student community at Humboldt State University organized the Homelessness Network to give underprivileged children the opportunity to participate in educational activities on the weekend. Homelessness Network focuses on improving reading skills and furthering teamwork, leadership and confidence with crafts, games, and, occasionally, educational fieldtrips. Christina visits several temporary housing locations in Humboldt to bring the program to the underprivileged children. The network connects students with local homeless children through monthly events and weekend activities.

Jeffrey Geltman, 19

LanX: A Local Sustainability Exchange

Put your money where your mouth is and invest locally! Jeffery is leading LanX to increase investment in locally owned companies and reduce unemployment in South Central Pennsylvania. The average unemployment rate in the area is between 6 and 8%, however the potential of the local economy in agriculture and manufacturing is a great place to invest to lower the unemployment. LanX has created an online platform for investors to invest in small and local businesses to boost the local economy and to educate residents about the importance of local investment, economic development, job creation and community empowerment. Jeffrey will use his grant money to hold a community event to promote the goals of the LanX project and to continue to grow the program.

Faith Bernstein, 19

The Ubuntu Green Graffiti Garden

Sacramento County has nearly six times as many fast food and convenience stores as it does supermarkets. Over 25% of the community lives below the poverty line and 21% of the total population is obese. Access to healthy food is a problem that disproportionally affects low-income communities and results in unhealthy lifestyles. Faith and Ubuntu Green are committed to promoting healthy, sustainable and equitable communities by improving access to healthy food and teaching young people leadership training and project development. The youth team will lead the development of the Ubuntu Green Graffiti Garden in a vacant lot in South Sacramento. The graffiti art will illustrate the importance of healthy food in the community and the garden will provide fresh produce.

Carly Fleming, 21

Buhl Refuel

Buhl Park is a public outdoor recreational and cultural venue, spread over 300 acres the park includes a free golf course, tennis courts and exercise trails. However young people are not taking advantage of these facilities. Carly is energizing young people to become involved in beautifying the area and planning youth events in the park. Ten high school students will form two committees that will be charged with creating volunteer opportunities for more students and publicizing the events to their peers at school. With the Summer Jobless Grant, their first tasks on the agenda are to re-paint the trash cans and to stain the picnic tables and fences. The volunteer events will get young people involved at the park and encourage them to return often.

Breanna Lopez, 19

StreetLight's Youth & Awareness Program

In the U.S., the average age of entry into the commercial sex industry is between 12 to 14 years old. The number of child slaves in the U.S. is unknown due to the nature of the industry, however hundreds of thousands of minors are estimated to be at risk to coercion into the sex trade. StreetLight’s Youth & Awareness Program educates young people about sex slavery to prevent further exploitation of minors. The Walk-Thru is a life-size exhibit designed for student groups to teach them about the dangers of the sex trade. Breanna gives awareness presentations and provides students with ways to become modern-day abolitionists. Currently this program is based in Phoenix with the go to national. To have an impact across the country, Breanna and StreetLight will take the Walk-Thru on a school tour and will build a second more portable Walk-Thru to take on a national school tour.

Shamel Colon, 19

EL Arco Iris: Healthy Lives Start with Healthy Minds, Learn to Eat Healthy

In Western Massachusetts, 70% of the Hispanic population is overweight, which is a cause of diabetes and high blood pressure. The community of Holyoke is 84% Latino with a high poverty rate and families that suffer from unhealthy eating habits and associated health problems. Shamel and El Arco Iris are calling attention to obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure in their community by creating a book of recipes for healthier versions of traditional cultural recipes. First, Shamel will interview families about how they cook and ingredients that are commonly used. With this information, Shamel will work with a local chef to redesign the recipes with healthier ingredients. At the end of the summer, they will hold a community event to celebrate healthy eating habits, display healthy cultural meals, and distribute the recipe book. Families who pick up the recipe book will be able to create healthy and delicious meals at home.

$500 WINNERS

Morgan Barron, 12

Harmony Community Garden

In Utah, 1 in 7 children under 5 years old goes hungry every day. Fresh produce from a community garden is a healthy and cheaper alternative for underprivileged children. Morgan is organizing the effort to redevelop an unused area in South Salt Lake Harmony Park into a community garden. She has gained support from local organizations to help engage the community in creating the organic and sustainable garden. The garden will be an opportunity for people to work together and learn to grow produce sustainably and for a lower price than the grocery stores offer. Community volunteers will also teach healthy food preparation and nutrition so that children and their families can get the best meals from the produce in the garden.

Mary Shindler, 23

Summer of Solutions Oakland

Oakland’s poverty rate is 17.2% and in this economy many young people are without jobs over the summer. Summer of Solutions has selected 42 Solutionaries to lead community action projects and engage young people during the summer. They focus on four areas: Clean Energy, Food Justice, Thriving Communities, and Media & Storytelling. The projects range from home energy audits, urban farm development, film documentaries, to a free summer camp for local youth. The Summer Jobless Grant will enable the summer camp for teen campers from low-income neighborhoods learn ways to live more sustainably. They will conduct energy audits to learn the importance of unplugging electronics and turning off lights, create a documentary for environmental education, and learn about sustainable urban gardening to produce fresh vegetables. The summer camp engages young people with older teens to learn the importance of environmental initiatives.

Zachary Wolinsky, 21

Green Ways to School

Riding your bike and skating to school is a great way to stay green, but it’s important to stay safe! This summer Zachary and Green Ways to School are educating young people how to be safe when riding and skating around town. To reach young people in a creative way, Green Ways to School is designing a magazine of artwork and essays by local teens and including a safety section. The safety section talks about the importance of helmets, lights and reflective stickers. To teach hands-on safety tips and distribute safety gear they will hold “Pimp My Bike” Workshops where young people can learn the importance of safety in a fun and creative manner. With these measures, young bike riders and skaters will be safe and green.

Ashley Powell

Urban Organicz

Detroit has more than 10,000 empty lots that are available for purchase or adoption. Ashley and Urban Organicz have adopted 10 lots throughout the city to transform into community gardens. Within the city, there is very limited access to healthy and nutritious food. Ashley will work with the community to organize groups of volunteers to plant, maintain and harvest the gardens. The farm plots are within walking distance to schools so that students can easily access them and learn gardening skills. Ashley is giving inner-city youth the opportunity to interact with nature, work as a team, and learn about healthy living.

Kevin Ji, 20

HOPE Gardens

Residents of low-income communities struggle to find food options that are both affordable and healthy. Kevin and volunteers maintain HOPE Gardens, a community garden and urban farm that serves local community members living in poverty and teaches students about sustainable gardening. Low-income families are sponsored to manage their own plots from which they grow and eat fresh produce. HOPE Gardens also supports a garden at HomeStart, a women and children’s shelter, to provide fresh vegetables and is a resource for learning about nutrition and healthy living. This summer Kevin is recruiting more middle and high school volunteers to maintain the HomeStart garden and engage in workshops to learn about nutrition and gardening.

Michaela Brumbaugh, 17

An Environmental Stewardship with Education

When Michaela started high school there were 900 students in her grade. When she graduated in 2011, only 525 received diplomas. At Michaela’s school teen pregnancy is a very common reason why girls drop out of school. After seeing one of her close friends have a baby in high school and return to classes following the birth, Michaela was inspired to reach out to young girls to advocate the benefits of staying in school and focusing on their goals. Michaela and fellow graduates from her class will volunteer with girls in elementary school to build and upkeep a garden. This will give the girls an opportunity to learn and work directly with students who have stayed in school and overcome the obstacles to get a good education. Michaela will put together packs filled school supplies to get the girls excited about starting a new school year.

Marcia Hopkins, 22

Chop-It-Up

Philadelphia is not always the city of brotherly love. Already in 2011, there have been 306 accounts of homicide, of which 254 were young people under 25 years old. Many of those young people had siblings and children that must cope with the grief. Chop-It-Up will provide a voice for the youth and offer workshops for dealing with grief and loss. Marcia works with other young adults to hold these workshops that provide a safe haven for young people to talk about important issues and provide support and healthy ways of grieving. The young people who attend the workshops gain confidence to speak out and have the opportunity to share with youth in their community.

Ryan Cox, 15

Argyle Area Community Garden

Jacksonville served over 3 million meals to people who were going hungry this year. In 24 neighborhoods families cannot get fresh fruits and vegetables. Ryan’s vision for the Argyle Area Community Garden is to make space and education available to local families and individuals so that they can produce and consume their own organic and healthy food. Ryan will develop the Youth Garden by engaging young volunteers to create a compost area to fertilize the garden beds, build raised garden beds, plant seeds and maintain the garden beds. Picnic tables beside the Youth Garden will create a social area where the young volunteers and their families can spend time maintaining and learning about the garden. Ryan’s goal is to have 50 families participating and benefiting from the garden on a regular basis and to donate an average of 100 pounds per month to local organizations.

Megan Reddell, 25

Creating Connections

Within our society, individuals with special needs carry a stigma which relegates them to a different class; not better or worse, but different. Camp Civitan works to break down this stigma through weeklong summer camp sessions and weekend adventures throughout the year. Campers and volunteers work together in arts and crafts, drama, swimming, music, and many more outdoor activities. This past year over 750 special needs children, youth, adults and seniors participated in Camp Civitan programs and to date over 2,000 volunteers have dedicated their time to the camp. Megan hopes to create connections between the youth and the unique individuals to prevent the stigma from developing. The Summer Jobless Grant will enable the volunteers to create more social activities where campers can learn teamwork and engage in outdoor social activities.

Brenda Escutia, 17

South Park Summer Day & Night Festival

South Santa Rosa has been labeled an unsafe and unhealthy community due to gang violence and high rates of obesity. However Brenda and her fellow DIG Leaders are taking action to improve. The 3rd Annual South Park Summer Day & Night Festival celebrates the youth in the community and advocates community safety and healthy living. The festival will include entertainment, a health fair, children and teen activities, and it will end with a movie in the park. The festival brings the community together to enjoy the outdoors and promotes recreational activities that will include youth’s health. The festival will be commemorated with a mural on a park wall that has been previously marked by gangs. Brenda’s efforts will help turn her community into a safe and healthy one.

Marisa Schreiber, 20

Project Art Therapy for Children's Health

Children who suffer from disabilities and long-term illnesses cannot always make it to school and interact with children their own age. Since it is difficult for them to get to school, Marisa is bringing art classes to these children through Project Art Therapy. Volunteer college students spend one-on-one and group time with children working on art projects, while at the same time helping these children grow socially and gain confidence. Children can express themselves through their artwork and interact with people as they would at school. Marisa’s goal is to reach 100 children with 50 volunteers at the end of the summer.

Juan Daniel Cervantes, 17

English and Computer Trainings

Growing up translating for his Spanish-speaking parents, Juan knows just how important it is to have English speaking skills in the US. In addition, to the language barrier there is also the technology barrier that prevents people from finding employment and navigating in their community. Juan and student volunteers are organizing instructional classes and additional practice sessions to help youth and adults in their community to learn English and computer skills. An English professor and computer specialist will conduct weekly instructional classes and student volunteers will work with the community members to practice the skills they learn in class. Juan and the young volunteers are breaking down the language and technology barriers within their community.

Candice Lewis, 20

Dream Girls

Several successful women volunteers gather each week to discuss challenges they have faced and how they overcame them with young women in the community. Candice is an independent and confident young woman who has learned from tough relationships and she wants others to learn how to make positive decisions in their relationships with men and their careers. The weekly meetings feature group projects, mentoring discussions, prizes and food. The young women have the opportunity to ask questions and gain confidence from the group. The women will follow up with a group service project to empower more young women in their community.

Bobbi Barr, 17

One Dream, One Note, Music Now

Bobbi doesn’t want a young person’s talent to be overlooked. He is planning an entertainment celebration to showcase local youth talent. As a musician, Bobbi loves to share music with his friends and wants talented young people to have the confidence to pursue their talents and stay in school. School bands and performances are a great way to work with other young musicians. The celebration will gather local music artists and media to show young people what they can achieve if they stay in school and pursue their musical talents.

Stefanie Millete, 25

Habitat for Humanity Summer VolunVacations

Every year, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Portland builds homes for low-income families in the area who need help. Stefanie recruits groups of young people to help build, this summer two groups of low-income teens have volunteered but need travel scholarships to come from across New England to Maine. The Summer Jobless Grant will help bring 36 teens to Portland to put in over 850 building hours. The teens will work together to put up framing, windows, and painting, and will also spend time learning about housing issues, home ownership conditions, and practical budgeting and life planning.

Pawanjeet Kaur, 19

Bridging the Gap: SEVA Summer Academy

Over the summer, students lose some math and reading skills by not practicing everyday. Pawanjeet and volunteers at the SEVA Summer Academy established a math and reading peer-tutoring program. Fifty student tutors volunteer to provide one-on-one and group sessions to young students this summer. The program will help students with study skills, reading comprehension, and test taking skills. The practice will give students confidence to return to school with advanced skills. Pawanjeet not only engages the students but also reaches out to their parents to create a network of support for young students pursuing their academic goals.

Liu Zhen Huang

Teach Immigrants English!

When Liu moved to New York City at 11 years old, her parents did not know English. Many immigrants to Chinatown, NY do not speak English either and learning English as a second language is a challenging and time-consuming task. Liu wants to help her community by teaching English in her community. Liu, who is bilingual, will recruit more young volunteers to commit to teaching English in their community. Learning English will help members of Liu’s community go beyond Chinatown with more confidence. One advantage of learning English is being able to register and vote. Liu is empowering community members by giving them a voice.

Alison Stauffacher, 24

Youth Engaging Youth

Three days a week Alison and her YouthCorps co-members assemble in the local park and organize fun outdoor activities for youth. The free organized program gives neighborhood children a positive way to spend their time during the summer. Alison runs basketball, frisbee, kickball, and arts & crafts, however she would like to see more young people take the initiative to lead activities for youth in the community. Alison will recruit young people to organize a youth celebration in the local park. The celebration will bring young people together for positive and safe activities and will promote and develop youth leadership and organizational skills.