Chinatown youth groups, AACA and Boston Asian YES help for youth jobs with 1200 teens

• Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill and South End/Chinatown Youth Lead 1200 Youth at Rally at Faneuil Hall and March to the State House for Youth Jobs
• Press for state funding for youth jobs, for passing new tax revenue to make this more possible
• Report issued listing 357 Boston based employers with 100+ employees who are NOT hiring youth and need to step up and do that
• Packed Rally held in Faneuil Hall and addressed by Mayor Menino

Youth leaders from Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, South End, and Chinatown the are part of the Youth Jobs Coalition led 1200 Youth at a Rally at Faneuil Hall and March to the State House for Youth Jobs.

Youth pressed for increasing state funding for youth jobs. We asked legislators to increase the youth jobs program for jobs with non-profits called YouthWorks from $9 to $11 million and to increase the program that helps secure jobs with companies and hospitals called School to Career operated by the Boston PIC from $2.88 million to $5 million.

We asked legislators to also pass new tax revenue to make this more possible, as has been proposed by Governor Patrick and 50 legislators.

We issued the attached report listing 357 Boston based employers with 100+ employees who are NOT hiring youth and need to step up and do that. We went to the offices of several of those companies not hiring youth after writing them and will continue to press them to step up as many other companies have done.

“All it took was someone to take a chance on me,” Nickeirah Straughter said of her employers at Boston’s Teen Empowerment, where she works in a variety of roles from organizing to babysitting. “Now, I’m doing better than I ever thought I could.”

“This is important for me to be here, begging these legislators for more jobs, because we are the future,” said Sheraine Blake, 18, a senior at the Boston Community Leadership Academy, as she stood on the State House steps. “And to save kids from being out on the street and doing things they shouldn’t be doing, why not open up more jobs for us?”

South End and Chinatown groups participating included Boston Asian YES, Asian American Civic Association, IBA/Inquilinos, and Teen Empowerment.

Dorchester organizations participating were Dorchester Bay EDC Youth Force, Bird Street Community Center, Project Right, the Catholic Charities Teen Center at St. Peter’s, MassCosh, Dorchester Youth Collaborative, Codman Square HDC, St. Peter’s Church, the City School.

Roxbury organizations participating included Teen Empowerment, DSNI, Project Right, Madison Park CDC, Madison Park High School.

**Jamaica Plain organizations participating included Hyde Square Task Force, Teen Empowerment, Southern JP Health Center, Beantown Society.

Mission Hill organizations participating included Sociedad Latina, Mission Hill Youth Collaborative, Project SAFE.

Hyde Park participated with the Southwest Boston CDC.

The Rally part of the day was held in Faneuil Hall and addressed by Mayor Menino, Boston youth leaders Keturah Brewster and Roy Merva Chambers, mother of the tragically murdered Ivol Brown, who had been a Youth Jobs Coalition leader, also spoke.