Na’Thaia applied for a summer job through YouthWorks and was invited to be part of the Hire One Youth initiative, the private-sector component of Baltimore City’s summer jobs program. She didn’t really feel like attending the required job readiness training and figured that she would most likely be offered something through YouthWorks. “My sister received her worksite assignment promptly, and for weeks after that I still didn’t know if I would be offered a job at all. 

In 2010 Darian Boone stopped going to school at Merganthaler Vocational – Technical High School (Mervo) for a variety of reasons; Mervo just wasn’t a good match for him. Darian spent several years trying to get back into a Baltimore City public school until he became too old to enroll. 

During those years Darian was employed most of the time, working in restaurants and as a banquet server for Centerplate at the Baltimore Convention Center. Then he realized, “I need more of an education to advance my pay rate; I need to get motivated.” 

James Knight earned his high school diploma from Achievement Academy at Harbor City High School in 2011. “Then I fell into a real rough patch and I wasted a year running the streets and just hanging around. I had lost my dad in 2009 and life just hit me all at once. I wasn’t able to cope with it all,” James shared.

In June of 2012 James’ daughter was born and he realized, “It was time for me to be a man. When she was born it was a new game for me.”

Today, Baltimore City residents between the ages of 14 and 21 can begin the 2017 YouthWorks summer jobs registration process by applying online at http://youthworks.oedworks.com.