DSNI celebrates teen summer job success

Jeremy Schwab

Destiny Gunn enjoys working as a counselor-in-training at Bird Street Community Center.

She likes making a difference in the lives of the teenaged girls. She likes the way the experience will look on her college applications. The 15-year-old especially likes the $350 she takes home every two weeks, some of which she saves, the rest of which she spends on herself.

The city paid the salaries of Gunn and thousands of other teens this summer. The summer jobs program is massively popular.

“I have friends who wanted to apply to the city [in February], but they were too late, so they stayed home,” said Gunn. “They are trying to get jobs for the fall.”

Gunn was placed in her position by staff at the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative.

The neighborhood group, on behalf of the city, coordinated the placement of over 100 teens this summer in community organizations, including day camps, the historic Shirley Eustis House, Upham’s Corner Health Center, Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation and the Upham’s Corner Library.

The teens learned valuable job skills and engaged in constructive, interactive activities.

The teens, DSNI staff and others gathered at the Vine Street Community Center one evening last week to celebrate the completion of their six-week-long, five-days-a-week jobs.

On the menu was entertainment from local youth dancers and artists, a potluck provided by the teens and also a series of workshops to help the teens focus on their futures.

In one workshop, participants discussed the emotional challenges of going off to college. They received pointers on applying for financial aid and conducted mock college interviews.

In another room, a handful of teens got help on their resumes. In other workshops, teens learned about money management and discussed the problems of violence and crime in their community.

“It’s never too late to prepare for college,” said DSNI community organizer José Barros. “They might go to a school where there is no help at all. So if you can put it in there now, they know where they can come back tomorrow to get help.”

In recent years, the city has moved away from one of the focuses of its summer jobs program — neighborhood cleanup — and towards a model where teens learn more office-related job skills working at community groups.

“The city used to provide these jobs cutting the grass,” said Barros. “There was nothing for them to learn or put on their resumes.”

This summer, the city spent $3.2 million to fund an estimated 3,300 jobs through the Boston Youth Fund, enjoying for the first time in years some funding help from the state to the tune of nearly $1 million.

Two other major initiatives from the Private Industry Council and Action for Boston Community Development also fund teens’ summer jobs each year.

Applicants for city-funded jobs must apply through the city’s hope line (617-635-HOPE) in February. Staff at DSNI help teens from their community apply for city jobs, as well as coordinating their placement.

“Since we already know the process, it makes it easier for them,” said Alicia Mooltrey, who coordinates DSNI’s youth employment program.