Block party encourages youth vaccinations and employment

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – Live music, games and even a bounce house. Everything that your typical block party would have, but this one on Charleston’s West Side served an extra purpose.

“Youth 14 to 24 can come out and sign up for seven weeks of employment throughout the summer, just trying to give kids something productive to do over the summer months,” said Grace Wise, with Human Resource Development Foundation of West Virginia.

The Human Resource Development Foundation of West Virginia says by signing up for this employment program, young people will learn life skills, as well as feel like they are giving back to their community.

“To make sure that kids have a place in their own community, so they can go to work and feel apart of their own community,” added Wise.

“To any employers that we work with, we tell them all to treat them like it’s a real job – don’t pamper them, treat it like it’s a real job so they can go out to the workforce prepared,” said Jabbar Thomas, a Youth Service Specialist for HRDF.

They also encouraged young people to get vaccinated. “One of the biggest things right now is to make sure that you’re vaccinated so that we can get people back to work and get everything back to normal,” Michael Austin, the YouthBuild Coordinator for HRDF remarked.

If you are interested in the youth employment programs, visit the HRDF website.