FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 14, 2012

FOR ASSIGNMENT: Wednesday, June 20, 2012; 6 p.m.

Contacts: Brice Freeman, Communications, 410-396-1910, bfreeman@oedworks.com Ernest Dorsey, Youth Services, 410-396-6722, edorsey@oedworks.com

Seventy-Five Baltimore City Students to Graduate from Youth Opportunity (YO!) Baltimore Programs June 20 Graduation ceremony will be held at Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland (June 14, 2012) – Youth Opportunity (YO!) Baltimore will host a special graduation event for its 2012 class of more than 70 young adults who chose to pursue alternative education after facing challenges in traditional settings. Forty-seven students will graduate from the YO! Academy, an alternative high school that operates in partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools. They will share the stage with 28 young people who dropped out of school and earned their general Maryland high school diplomas through the two YO! centers in East and West Baltimore. Joe Jones, president and founder of the Center for Urban Families, will deliver the keynote address. WHO: YO! Baltimore serves out-of-school Baltimore City youth ages 16 to 22, many of whom face difficult challenges such as unstable housing, unemployment, limited support systems, early parenthood, poverty, and limited educational achievements. Through the encouragement of caring advocates, the guidance of dedicated literacy instructors and access to vital support services, these young people are now moving forward to become fully independent and productive young adults. WHEN: Wed., June 20, 2012; 6 p.m. WHERE: Johns Hopkins University Shriver Hall, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218. BACKGROUND: Since 2000, YO! Baltimore has served out-of-school youth and young adults by providing educational, personal development and career preparation resources. Operated by the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, YO! Baltimore has a proven track record of helping young people increase their wage earnings and educational attainment while reducing recidivism, and has received national recognition as a model youth development program. For more information about YO! Baltimore, visit www.yobaltimore.org or call 410-396-6722. ### In fiscal year 2011, the Mayor's Office of Employment Development hosted more than 139,000 visits from city residents at our one-stop career centers, facilitated nearly 19,000 computer literacy training sessions at our Digital Learning Labs, and placed close to 2,700 individuals in jobs. We connected more than 5,000 youth to summer employment and assisted more than 500 businesses through our Employ Baltimore strategy. This year we are continuing our commitment to match Baltimore citizens with good jobs and satisfying careers, and to link area businesses to qualified employees.