AFG Hires 53 Young People Through Grow Detroit’s Young Talent

Alternatives For Girls had another successful partnership with Grow Detroit’s Young Talent (GDYT), a city-wide summer job and training program that employs young adults between the ages of 14-24. We hired 53 youth employees across all three departments, double the number of participants from 2018. Even though the six-week program was remote this year, we were still able to provide great work opportunities and workshops that teach participants professional skills, such as resume writing, time-management, leadership, teamwork, and communication.

The program’s success is expressed in our youth employees’ end-of-summer reflections. They not only spoke about their new skills, but also their newfound confidence to pursue their dreams through goal-setting and good decision-making. One participant learned that “purpose isn’t just a role, it’s a feeling that you can do in multiple ways” while another one said that they learned the importance of “truly sitting down and thinking about your goals, and whether you are doing enough to achieve them.”

But the workshops offered more than skill-building and career advice. Employees also had the opportunity to learn more about self-care and serving their community.  One participant “learned how to deal with mental health…[and] learned more about the city of Detroit. I learned how to better understand people and their differences. I learned more about me as a person,” while another participant gained “a lot of insight on how to protect myself, how to better boost my self-esteem, community service opportunities, and smarter ways to do things.”

 We are proud of the meaningful and impactful contributions our GDYT youth employees have made. Though we are sad to see the summer come to an end, we are excited about what they have in store.