Impressions - October 2017 - 36

think.
make.
do.

Shop talk
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Opening
New Avenues
portland's at-risk youth get job training and useful workplace
skills through screen printing thanks to this local nonprofit.
By JAMAR LASTER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Sara Weihmann can easily explain the mission of Portland,
Oregon-based New Avenues forYouth, citing how it provides skills
and support services to assist local youth in exiting street life. As
the organization's enterprise director, she has no difficulty discussing the nonprofit organization's job-readiness training program
that teaches participants various "soft skills" that are required for
real-world applications, regardless of vocation.
But Weihmann's real joy comes from discussing success stories
whose foundations are laid at New Avenues INK, a social enterprise owned and operated by New Avenues forYouth. Launched
in spring 2013, the enterprise provides paid job training and
real-world experiences for Portland's transient, at-risk foster and
homeless youth.
Weihmann mentions the"couch-surfing"intern from an unstable
housing situation who had no work experience and was "on the
fence" about going to college.

New Avenues also prints its
streetwear label, dfrntpigeon
("Different Pigeon") at its
screen-printing facility.

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i m p r e s s i o n s m a g . c o m OCT./NOV. 2017

"He got placed at New Avenues INK
as an intern and ended up being so naturally geared toward [screen printing]
that he [excelled] and ended up getting
promoted to different levels [of the program], then transitioning out to a larger
screen-printing shop locally," she recalls.
"After a year or so, he actually came back
to New Avenues INK and worked with
us for the summer just to help with the
busy season. Now, he's working here full
time and is not only a key production
staffer for us, but he's also in a mentorship
role where he's supporting other youth."
There's also the young woman who
wasn't inspired by any of her previous
jobs. However, after starting as an intern
and demonstrating promise in the New
Avenues INK work environment, she was
promoted to the sales department and
ended up "essentially running it,"Weihmann says. "We incentivized her with
another promotion to assistant manager
if she completed her GED, which she
did. She recently transitioned to a local
screen-printing shop and is now the office
manager there."
Such successes make it clear that the
New Avenues INK story isn't one of just
another screen-printing shop focused on
efficient production, optimized workflow
and a healthy bottom line. Rather, it's
one of reaching out to youth in need,
offering them chances to travel the path
to self-sustainability and helping them
become successful in a professional setting.
Oh, and they get to screen print T-shirts
in the process.

New Avenues forYouth's
Sara Weihmann says
screen printing resonates
with so many at-risk
youth because of its
graphical, visual nature.

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Impressions - October 2017

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