Funds Will Increase the Number of Yolo County Youth Served

DAVIS, CA (MPG) - Yolo County Children’s Alliance (YCCA) has been granted $20,000 by AT&T’s Aspire Initiative to support a workforce readiness program that provides mentoring, career interest assessments and paid work experiences for underserved youth and young adults from West Sacramento, Davis, and Clarksburg.

On Monday, August 20, 2018 at 2:00 p.m., representatives of the AT&T Aspire Initiative will present a check to Yolo County Children’s Alliance Executive Director, Katie Villegas, at Lenise’s Café in West Sacramento, the program’s first committed and staffed worksite. Also in attendance will be café owner, Lenise Mowry, and a Workforce Investment Opportunity Act (WIOA) program participant and café employee, who was later hired on by the café as a regular employee.

The goal of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity program is to connect eligible youth with education, paid work place experience, and employment strategies, intended to lead to life-long success within the workforce and ultimately to economic self-sufficiency for young people and their families. Funding from AT&T will used to support additional work-site placements for the participating youth. 

This program will serve youth ages 16-24 who meet one or more of the following criteria: not currently enrolled in school; is pregnant or parenting; has been through the justice system; is in foster care; is homeless. YCCA staff provide hands on support to the youth, mentoring them all the way through their training and work experience, ensuring that they learn, grow, and gain value from the experience. WIOA program staff work closely with individual work-sites to ensure a good fit for both the youth and for the business. Additionally, staff connect the youth to other supportive services and resources such as health insurance, uniform or equipment assistance, or nutrition benefits.

AT&T’s Aspire Initiative connects communities through proven strategies to help students succeed by partnering with organizations that meet the needs of young people and investing in education and job training to create a skilled and diverse workforce that helps prepare today’s youth for the future.