Albuquerque, NM - For its second year SWOP’s Youth Employment Summer Institute (YES!) will employ nearly 80 young people for the summer at area community organizations. The YES! program will support these young people as they develop their leadership, increase their skills for future employment and create positive change in their community. The employment program is an outgrowth of SWOP’s youth program, which has been developing community leaders in New Mexico for the past 35 years.
“It makes me excited and happy not only to just be [part of this program] but to engage in the community and try to do something good,” says Aisha Martinez of Albuquerque, 14. “It’s important to have young people involved in issues that affect them because they’re doing good with their lives and I feel like I’m doing something with my summer.”
YES! participant organizations see youth development programs as critical to their work in New Mexico, which ranks 50th in the nation in child welfare and job growth. Despite the state’s stagnant economy andoutmigration numbers, YES! groups say there’s hope for the future.
“We’re dead last in child welfare and 50 out of 50 in job growth,” says Patrick Barrett, SWOP Youth Organizer. “New Mexico’s millennials need to know we’re invested in promoting economic opportunities for youth in New Mexico.
Community engagement for participants in the Youth Employment Summer Institute is not just a seasonal opportunity. Last summer, dozens of young people engaged in a public education campaign around Bernalillo County’s proposed Santolina Master Plan. Local communities have been outspoken in their opposal to the plan, which would consume millions of dollars in tax money as well as gallons of water. The young people became increasingly engaged in the campaign throughout the summer, and when the YES! program ended, they stayed engaged year-round, attending meetings, rallies, and speaking to elected officials.
"This is where we need to invest in this state, with our young people," says Javier Benavidez, SWOP Executive Director. "They will be affected by these issues for years to come, and the change they create now will have an immeasurable impact on New Mexico's future.
YES! participants are available for comment. Contact George Luján at george@swop.net or (505) 400-6403.
Participating Organizations:
Center for Social Sustainable Systems
El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos
Encuentro
Forward Together/Strong Families New Mexico
Generation Justice
Juntos New Mexico
New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community
New Mexico Immigrant Law Center
Organizers in the Land of Enchantment
Partnership for Community Action
SouthWest Organizing Project
Young Women United
Facts:
- New Mexico is 50th in job growth. (ABQ Business Journal, UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research)
- New Mexico is 50th in child well being. (2014 Kids Count in New Mexico - NM Voices for Children)
- New Mexico’s young workers have fared poorly in comparison to other states in the U.S and the western region, starting before the double dip recession nationally and locally.(The State of Working New Mexico 2014, NM Voices for Children)
- Almost half of New Mexico’s children live in low income families. (2014 Kids Count in New Mexico - NM Voices for Children)
- Only state in the region with more (young) people leaving than arriving. (ABQ Free Press, U.S. Census Bureau)