Working through YES was one of my greatest and most memorable experiences growing up and as a teenager in Ithaca. Youth Employment Service helped me tremendously. It helped me support myself while i was in middle school and high school, but more importantly, the organization helped me support my mother financially while she was a single mother of four children. While I was growing up, my father was still living in Liberia in west Africa, and the rest of the family lived in Ithaca. As the oldest of four children, at the age of fourteen, I had to step up to the plate and take his place as a father figure. With the jobs that YES helped me get, i was able to buy school clothes for my younger siblings, pay for groceries, and pay part of the electric bill to help my mother support us. In addition to supporting my mother with household responsibilities, I was able to save a huge part of the money I made through YES for my first and second year of college. Through the YES program, back in 2003, I was lucky to be set up with a summer job at the Alternatives Federal Credit Union. At this job I came across some very good people. One of them, Carol Hoffman, she told me about the Money Wise program. I joined that program and I was able to save for my college tuition. Without the YES program setting me up with that job, I may not have had the opportunity to meet good people like Carol and become connected with such an important program. If you got your #StartWithYES, we'd love to hear your story! Share it here. I currently work for the Ithaca Youth Bureau for the the Paul Schreurs Memorial Program. I run an after-school program, write up the newsletters and plans, and run the summer program. At PSMP, we do college tours, activities, and many other things for youth in our program. I also work at Coltivare, a restaurant in town. I am a supervisor and a host. I work on invoices and I am in charge of graduation, Easter and mother's day reservations. As a YES teen, I worked at Stewart Park, AFCU, Southside, and Paul Schreurs Memorial Program. YES, was a part of my life as soon as I turned 14 years old. I remember working at all of my jobs and enjoying every minute. Stewart park and PSMP were my two favorite jobs. Working with kids has and will always be a passion in my life. I currently work at HOLT Architects as a BIM Modeler and the IT manager. I am able to create a set of Construction Documents (blueprints) for a Contractor to build from. I also assist my fellow colleagues with day to day computer issues as well as maintaining the general Information Technology department at HOLT. As a YES teen, I was a Junior Camp Counselor @ GIAC. Now, I am trying to seek employment for my 14 year old daughter. Ironically, my first job was through YES, and hopefully, she too will have her first job through YES, also. I am currently studying nursing at Hartwick College. I work part time to help pay for school tuition. As a YES teen, I was a camp counselor, an elementary summer school teacher assistant, and I worked in camp food service and at Short Stop Deli. I started working with Youth Employment Service (YES) in the summer of 2009 at the age of 14. Working with the YES program was a great and helpful experience. Thanks to YES, I experienced several different job opportunities which play important roles in many aspects of my life today. Through YES, I learned new skills, such as communication, leadership, customer service, and social skills. By participating in a different job each summer, I continued improving these skills and still do today. I also learned to open up to people and made more friends. My YES reps helped and guided me through the whole process to ensure that I felt safe where I worked and that I would learn new things. Although I currently don’t hold any job because I am still in school, I believe that someday I will find a job that I love, and these skills that I have learned will serve me well. I appreciate everyone and everything associated with the YES Program. I don’t think that I would be where I am today without your help and the opportunities that you provide for youth like me. Thank you for everything. Did you get your #StartWithYES? Share your story here. I am currently a freshman at Cornell University, majoring in Biological Sciences. Through YES, I got a job as a cashier at the Ithaca Bakery. The YES program helped me get involved with my job by introducing me to the people I would be working with and walking me through the entire process. My participation in the program really helped me make those initial connections with the management that are so important for first impressions. Thanks to the support I received from YES, I was able to get a meaningful experience out of my job, and I continued working there until I graduated from high school. Did you get your #StartWithYES? Share your story here. |