At-risk young adults in parish get chance to change their lives
Carmen Brown grew up in the Boutte projects, and though she may have made some mistakes in her past, she was able to get out and make a life for herself.
Now, Brown is able to pass on that experience to at-risk young adults from St. Charles Parish through the Tri-Parish Youth Restoration Corps.
During the past year, corps members have improved infrastructure around the parish, taken on beautification projects and documented the common mistakes residents make regarding energy consumption – all while taking courses to prepare them for their GEDs or higher education classes.
Along the way, the group gets valuable personal advice from Brown, who serves as a mentor as well as a crew leader.
“I’m from this area and I grew up in the projects, and because of that, I was able to learn from my mistakes,” Brown said. “I was able to get out, but I don’t think a lot of the young adults here have the same resources I had.”
But with the help of the program, Brown said several crew members have been kept off the streets.
“That’s the most important thing,” she said. “Because of this resource, we are able to keep these kids off the streets and have them working and learning towards their GEDs.
“It’s rough for me sometimes, because we can have up to ten young adults in a crew and they all have their own personalities, but when I hear from them and they tell me how they have gotten their GED or are working on their resume, it makes it all worth it.”
Boutte resident Ebony Gordon, 22, said that without the youth restoration corps, she’s not sure if she would have gotten a second chance at her education.
“I had to drop out of school because of family problems and it was a really stressful time for me,” she said. “If I wasn’t in the corps, I would be looking for a job right now and trying to find out how to get back into school.
“This program is a blessing. I have a job, and when I’m done, I’m going to take what I’ve learned from class and get my GED.”
Luling’s Keisha Bourgeois, 20, said the corps has allowed her to get involved in the community and see what problems others face. Now, because she has been able to tackle so many of those problems through the corps, she has renewed confidence in herself.
“I’ve learned that if I start something, I’m going to finish it,” she said.
Besides bettering themselves, those that take part in the program also get rewarded. Though crew members are paid around $8 an hour for their work, the big payoff comes after they have completed 390 work hours. At that point, they become eligible for an Education Achievement Award through AmeriCorps, which can be used to pay for college.
“We had a girl that took the program who is now going to Herzing because she received $1,250 for school,” Brown said. “That’s something that could change her life.”
But it’s not just the chance at money that has changed these young adults’ lives, it’s the entire experience of being in the program.
“I have gained a lot of confidence through the corps,” Gordon said. “Now I know that I can do anything and succeed.”
The program, a first of its kind in the parish, is a joint initiative between St. James, St. John and St. Charles Parishes. It was made possible by a $500,000 grant from Youth Build USA that was attained by St. James. The program began in April of last year.
Each parish has their own youth restoration crew. In St. Charles, the program is broken down into four cycles, each lasting three months. Typically, between eight to ten young adults between the ages of 17 to 24 make up each parish crew. The crews work five days a week and go to GED classes for three hours a day two times a week.
Since it’s divided into cycles, each group helps with different things throughout the year. During Christmas, the youth restoration crew in that cycle helped collect Christmas trees for the wetlands. During Trash Bash, the young adults in that group helped clean up and beautify the parish.
Brown says the program is an important one for the many young adults in St. Charles who can’t find work.
“We have a lot of young adults in St. Charles Parish that can’t find jobs because of their backgrounds or just don’t have the transportation to even go out and look for one,” she said. “That’s why this program is so helpful.”
While the group helps the parish during special events, the crew also has plenty of projects of their own. Previously, the youth restoration crew has toured the parish to observe the wetlands, identified target areas to beautify and implemented trash-free polices.
One of their most recent projects included improving infrastructure at Boutte Park by painting picnic tables and pavilions and cleaning up shrubbery surrounding the park’s standalone bathroom facilities. They also added extra mulch to the area surrounding new playground equipment to keep the youngest park participants safe. While they are still making improvements at the park, the group is also working to improve the St. Rose Community Center.
The young adults in the restoration corps get the expertise to tackle these projects from Brown, who teaches the group about energy conservation and horticulture. Sometimes, guest lecturers like parish county agent Renee Schmidt are brought in. The community services’ weatherization carpenter, I. V. Mc Kinney, also instructs the young men and women on how to build sun screens, caulk windows, and make their homes more energy efficient.
“They were able to take that knowledge and help the elderly by building sun screens and caulking windows in their homes,” Maurya Glaude, the community services director for the parish and program overseer, said.
As if all that wasn’t enough, the group also learns about life-skills training, including increasing professionalism on the job and making resumes and cover letters.
“It’s one of my favorite programs,” Glaude said.
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