Working again

Two weeks ago I got a call from a 16 year old new mom, asking for a ride. I had time, so I agreed and picked her and a friend up. They told me their news: they had both just gotten their first job and needed a SIN and birth certificate to be able to make it official! I had the pleasure of driving them to government buildings to wait in lines for these precious documents. One of these girls dropped out of school 3 years ago, and is turning 16 in a few months. This is her first attempt to do anything productive with her time since then. The other girl just had her first baby a few months ago. With 9 sisters and a stay-at-home mom, there's plenty of babysitting, but not very much money, so she decided to "be the responsible one" and find work. They both just got their first paychecks: maybe not as much as they were hoping for, but a very good first step. Pray that they will be encouraged by being in the workforce, and this would be a positive step for both of them.

In the same vein, last night we started a 12 week job skills program for teens. We're not offering a specific skill, like our group that is learning how to lay flooring right now, but rather the skills it takes to get and keep a job: resumes, applications, interviews, showing up on time, communicating with your supervisor, teamwork, conflict resolution and so on. We had 6 young people show up, ranging in age from 12 to 20, and only one has ever held a job before (a 14 year old). We're hoping to invest some essential skills for success, and ultimately help each with their job search before summer comes. Thank God for the interest, and while these skills seem very basic to some, they can be foreign to a child raised by the streets. Pray they will have the commitment and fortitude to finish what they've begun.