What the Hood needs? Job training in the trades and programs for the youth

What the hood needs is job training programs in the trades and positive programs for the youth. Braddock has a program run by AmeriCorps that gives young people jobs in the summer and also year round jobs for young people who started out as youths to become mentors. Kids who have money of their own is less likely to sell drugs on the street. Dealing drugs is easier than getting up everyday and going to work, but every kid in the ghetto knows that dealing drugs in not only dangerous it also can result in going to prison.  Most young people in the ghetto have a moral compass, even those who have parents who are either selling drugs or gangbanging or both. My nephew Dario and nieces Monica and Autumn were involved with the Braddock Youth Project since they were teens. This program has had a tremendous effect on 15104 and the kids learn skills.


Several of the trades will often offer job training to disadvantaged young people even those who are convicted felons. This is good because these men and women have difficulty getting jobs because they have a conviction.  It also helps the young men who would like to improve their skills so they can leave the Fast Food industry and make a livable wage. Men, who cannot get jobs turn to crime out of desperation. They need a first chance to make the money they need to support their families. People in the ghetto start their families younger than those in the middle class and they know that Welfare for families help temporary but they want and need more than welfare.

Plumbers, electricians, Construction workers, Nurses Aides, Nurses, and Technicians all make decent money and people can get ahead.  No they may not be rich they may end up the working poor, which is a whole lot better than being dirt poor or having to resort to crime. 


Any training should include how to get a job: Resumes, interview skills, cover letters, and how to locate and apply for positions is one of the most important skills you can teach the hood. I went to a training program where I learned clerical skills. I was also taught how to interview properly and how to dress properly for the interview. I have gotten every job I have ever applied to.