More than 500 young people in Detroit will be able to land summer jobs this year and next thanks to a $1 million grant to the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation (DESC) for the Grow Detroit’ s Young Talent (GDYT) program from the Dresner Foundation.
GDYT, launched by Mayor Mike Duggan in 2015, is now within $200,000 of its $10.1 million goal to be able to provide summer jobs for 8,000 Detroit youth this year.
The foundation awarded the grant to DESC to provide two years of summer work opportunities to a total of 1,003 Detroit youth aged 14 to 15. The funding will support GDYT’s career explorations component that focuses on first-time work and career opportunities with mentoring and support services.
“I can’t thank the Dresner Foundation enough for its support of our city’ s young people,” Mayor Duggan said. “Thanks to its generous support, more than 1,000 young Detroiters will have the opportunity to have meaningful summer work experiences to help them along their career path.”
The Dresner Foundation was created by the late real estate developer Joseph Dresner and his wife Vera, both of whom were children of immigrants and graduates of Detroit’ s Central High School. The foundation, based in West Bloomfield, focuses on improving lives through grants that support health research, youth and family programs and animal welfare.
“The Dresner Foundation is pleased to provide support for GDYT. It’s a Foundation priority to enhance opportunities for youth,” said Virginia Romano, managing director of programs.
Mayor Duggan created GDYT to centralize youth summer employment options in the city and to expand opportunities for young people ages 14-24. In its first year, 5,600 youth were employed through GDYT. That number rose to more than 8,100 in 2016. Prior to GDYT, about 2,500 Detroit summer jobs were offered to youth each year through a series of smaller independent programs.
In GDYT, young people age 14-17 make $8 an hour and those 18-24 make $9.50 in six-week part-time jobs. Participants also receive 12 hours of work readiness training and 24 hours of other skills training that includes financial literacy. More than 230 employers participated in the program in 2016.
Mayor Duggan earlier this year outlined ways GDYT is being enhanced this year to provide a wider range of career readiness and pathways including:
• Expanded vocational training.
• Opportunities to earn industry recognized training certifications.
• Career-pathway internships for second- and third-year GDYT youth ages 16 and older.
On Friday, GDYT will hold a Connections Career Fair at Cobo Center at which more than 700 young people in the program will meet with employers and other partner organizations for on-site interviews and access to coaching and interview preparation.
For more information about GDYT, go to www.gdyt.org.
About the Dresner Foundation
The Dresner Foundation is dedicated to transforming lives in profoundly positive ways through grants focused on health, youth and animal welfare. At the Dresner Foundation we believe in working with organizations in our focus areas to create opportunity, have community impact, and promote wellbeing. For more information, visit www.dresnerfoundation.org.
Major GDYT sponsors in 2017:
City of Detroit
Wayne County
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
DTE Energy Foundation
JP Morgan Chase
Skillman Foundation
Bank of America Charitable Foundation
United Way for Southeastern Michigan
Marjorie S. Fisher Fund
Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority
Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation
Community Foundation for SE Michigan
Fifth Third Bank
MGM Grand Detroit
Ford Motor Co. Fund
Knight Foundation
PNC Bank
Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation
Strategic Staffing Solutions
Crain’s Detroit Business
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