Students in the A Positive Step of Monroe County “Idle Hands Summer Youth Employment Program” take steps toward the future during a job orientation session at Key West High School on Thursday, June 27, 2019, accompanied by Key West City Manager Greg Veliz, far left, and City of Key West Human Resources Director Samantha Farist, second from left. The planned 2020 program is currently in limbo due to City budget constraints.

A Positive Step of Monroe County asks public to advocate for program

At a time when job opportunities for young people nationwide are dramatically more “miss” than “hit,” a valuable local program which has for more than a decade helped prepare Key West High School students for success in the real-life work world is now in danger of going belly-up due to current City of Key West budget cuts.

Since 2010 the non-profit organization A Positive Step of Monroe County, which has been serving Monroe County’s highest risk kids and their families since 1999, has partnered with the City of Key West to provide paying summer employment for Key West High School students aged 16-18 through a program called the Idle Hands Summer Youth Employment Program.

Students apply to participate in the program, and those who are accepted—generally 20-25 students each year—go through a two-week readiness orientation process during which they practice interview and other professional skills to prepare them for city jobs, which can include administrative assistant, community service, and media department positions, among others.

Each year, the city has provided both the jobs for the students, and $35,000 towards the more than $70,000 program budget. APSMC has raised the difference through fundraisers, private donations, the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys and the Key West Sunrise Rotary Club.

This year, the city has announced that there will be no city funding for non-profits due to COVID-19 and budget constraints. APSMC founder and executive director Billy Davis is working to convince the city to reinstate its traditional $35,000 contribution, and is asking the community to help by contacting their city commissioners and requesting that the city restore the program funding.

“This program is crucial for socially and economically disadvantaged students at the high school, teaching them essential work, professional, and social skills and making them eligible candidates for future job opportunities, both with the city and beyond,” said Davis. “Our program breaks a cycle of low expectations and is their launching pad into a better life – and that’s good for them and for society as a whole.”

The Idle Hands Summer Youth Program’s $70,000 budget covers the student’s paychecks and the cost of employing one APSMC orientation instructor/job coach.

Some of the Idle Hands program students proceed directly from high school into the working world. Some, like Jemima JeanBaptiste, a senior at Key West High School, are also Take Stock in Children program participants, and will go on to college. JeanBaptiste, who worked as an APSMC intern with the Citizens Review Board in 2019 and currently holds a job as a junior coordinator at the Key West Boys & Girls Club, said that participating in the program taught her a lot, including time management and how to create a resume, and said she thinks continuation of the program is important because much of what is learned is not taught in school. She plans to major in marketing at the University of Central Florida beginning in 2021.

To send a request for the city to reinstate the traditional $35,000 contribution to the program, please email the Mayor, City Manager, and your district commissioner: Mayor Teri Johnston, [email protected]; City Manager Greg Veliz, [email protected]; commissioner Jimmy Weekly, [email protected]; commissioner Sam Kaufman, [email protected]; commissioner Billy Wardlow, [email protected]; commissioner Gregory Davila, [email protected]; commissioner Clayton Lopez, [email protected]; commissioner Mary Lou Hoover, [email protected].

For more information about A Positive Step Monroe County programs visit APSMC.org or contact APSMC founder Billy Davis at 305-304-1969.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]