Sponsored Employment Program (SEP)
Click below for the Project Count application.
Sponsored Employment Program (SEP) Launches Project Count 2020
One East Palo Alto (OEPA) and its partners, College Track, El Concilio of San Mateo County, JobTrain, Live In Peace and Belle Haven Community Development Fund are now hiring young people ages 14 to 24 years old for a Sponsored Employment Program (SEP) 2020 alternative called Project Count. Project Count is a summer work and serve experience that will employ up to sixty young people as Census Ambassadors commissioned to sell neighbors and friends on the importance of completing the 2020 Census. More than just a sales job, these young people will also be equipped to poll prospective families on their ability to access resources during the COVID-19 crisis and connect them to the appropriate resources where necessary. Just as with SEP, Project Count will provide summer employment, mentoring and community connectedness opportunities for young people at highest risk in East Palo Alto (EPA) and Belle Haven as well as for young people with a bent toward entrepreneurship. Project Count especially seeks to hire EPA/Belle Haven youth and young adults with challenges to employment such as no work experience, involvement in the juvenile justice system, limited or no English language skills, foster care, teen parenting, no high school diploma/GED (over age 18) or low income. Additionally, Project Count seeks young people who are outspoken, creative, community-loving and resilient. Beginning June 25, 2020, applicants selected to be Project Count participants will receive three (3) afternoons of intensive virtual job and sales readiness training. The 60 young people will be placed in teams of ten led by seasoned Census Youth Ambassadors (CYA) and assisted by volunteer Mentor/Coach Team Advisors from a variety of fields. CYA will be disbursed to their neighborhoods from July 1st to August 4th with each team member charged with winning 24 families. Teams will meet weekly (mostly virtually) for check ins, accounting and problem solving. Additional professional development trainings will be held virtually to increase participant’s technical expertise as well as to enhance their ability to thrive mentally and emotionally in this new workplace environment. Participants will earn commissions for each family successfully served, stipends for trainings and meetings and will have the opportunity to compete for prizes for above and beyond work. Project Count will culminate with a grand Census street rally (County permitting) on Friday, August 7th. Applications will be available beginning June 10 and can be obtained by e-mailing any of the partners mentioned above. Project Count is also now recruiting adult volunteers with a passion for seeing youth achieve their full potential to be Mentor/Coach Team Advisors. Team Advisors will lend their expertise during orientation and training as well as during team meetings. Deadline for applications is June 18, 2020. For more information call Samuel Tavera at 650.980.1809 or E-mail [email protected] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SEP 2019 OVERVIEW SEP is a partnership-based youth summer jobs initiative that was established in 2005 to help EPA youth and young adult (YYA) residents, ages 14-24, find the jobs they want and need to stay productive in the summer, learn valuable employment skills, help support themselves and their families, and develop productive relationships with caring adults. One East Palo Alto (OEPA) then partnered with local agencies and residents to pilot SEP as a community-wide response to increasing crime and violence involving EPA youth and young adults (YYA). It did so as part of its role as convener of the East Palo Alto Crime Reduction Task Force (EPACRTF), which was established in 2004 by San Mateo County’s 4th District Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson and has continued to be co-led by her successor, Hon. Warren Slocum from 2013 to present. Since 2005, OEPA has collaborated with JobTrain, El Concilio of San Mateo County and College Track to implement annual SEP operations, while Live In Peace, joined the partnership in 2011 and Belle Haven Community Development Fund joined in 2017. OEPA raises an annual budget of $350,000 for SEP operations and depends on philanthropic sources to generate the funds, over 67% of which goes toward paying salary stipends for up to 100 YYA and the 10 Peer Mentors who oversee their experience. The actual number of jobs offered through SEP depends on the success of OEPA-led efforts to raise the program’s annual budget, which is based on a cost per participant of $4,000. SEP selects YYA residing in EPA and Belle Haven/eastern Menlo Park (EPA/EMP) as participants, provides them with intensive soft skills training, then places them for six weeks at work sites hosted by SEP Employer-Sponsors and supports them throughout the work experience with 1-on-1 relationships with SEP Peer Mentor college students and adult Community Mentors representing a variety of professions. SEP hires YYA in part-time positions at $14/hour for up to 180 hours. In addition, SEP hires EPA/EMP college students as Peer Mentors and pays them $18/hour for 270 hours. SEP prioritizes selection of YYA whose challenges include no work experience, juvenile justice system involvement, limited/no English language skills, foster care, teen parenting, no high school diploma/GED (over 18) and/or low income. To date, SEP has provided summer jobs for nearly 1200 YYA and 52 EPA/EMP college students. The program's support services include recruitment and training materials and supplies, translations, fingerprinting, hospitality, insurance, payroll processing and a gala graduation celebration. Now in its 15th year, SEP continues to offer a lifeline for EPA/EMP young people and their families and we hope that efforts in 2019 will draw an even broader base of diverse multi-year funders as well as a robust slate of donors who desire to embrace EPA and EMP YYA. |
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