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Time Herald Record Community
Newburgh youth work program graduates 48
October 16, 2009 2:00 AM
NEWBURGH — The young people of Newburgh On the Rise graduated recently from their 12-week summer youth employment program.

Newburgh on the Rise, which began July 13, gave 48 Youth Ambassadors ages 19-24 the opportunity to earn wages for six weeks under the auspices of the City of Newburgh's Department of Human Services. They received hands-on training in construction, filming and photography, event planning and urban landscaping, while also receiving professional development skills training from Best Resources. They also received an orientation to various green jobs and environmental issues.

Throughout the six weeks, the Youth Ambassadors assisted in the greening of several city-owned properties. Working closely with the Department of Public Works, they built and designed their own gardens in partnership with professional arborists, volunteers from the Shade Tree Commission and staff at Downing Park.

They also created their own community project, the Block Building Movement, in which they dedicated to the community five hand-pieced raised tree boxes with the names of more than 200 deceased people burnt into the wood. Youth Ambassadors representatives went door-to-door to register names for the project, which were hand-inscribed on the boxes by their peers.

This successful six-week program was celebrated and presented to the public Aug. 16, when more than 100 people showed up to thank the Youth Ambassadors for their efforts in the community and to watch a draft of their film describing the whole process.

On Aug. 24, because of the success of Newburgh On the Rise, the service of 18 of the 48 Youth Ambassadors was extended for another five weeks by Orange County Employment and Training Administration (ETA).

The first couple of weeks on the job, the Youth Ambassadors started to tear down walls literally and figuratively as they teamed up with the City of Newburgh Police to renovate the old courthouse and police station, helping to build a stronger bond between the police and the community.

Over the following weeks, the Youth Ambassadors finished the final editing of their 25-minute short film, built their own miniature raised-bed gardens and maintained more than 40 trees, some of which they planted themselves. They also received training in blogging, urban farming, green construction and building, permaculture, horticulture, cooking (from the Culinary Institute of America and local restaurants), all while still attending their professional development courses at Best Resources.

"Over the past few weeks, not only have the youth exceeded the expectations of community partners but they have also exceeded their own," said Decora Sandiford, program manager.