February 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 51

Participants of the Seaside (California)
Youth Resource Center's Youth Employment
Program assist with the city's
2020 U.S. Census push.
during a job interview, as well as
the proper attire for the occasion.
As part of the training, recreation
staff serve on a panel for a mock
interview with youth employment
candidates.
Realizing that some youth might
not have the money for clothing,
Meewis says some funds are available.
" We took them shopping and
we...bought them each an outfit
with everything they would need
to at least dress business casual for
a part-time interview, " he says.
What's more, SYRC hosts quarterly
money management workshops.
Black explains that when
these kids earn a paycheck, it's
important that " they understand
how to spend their money [wisely].
There's a responsibility to that, and
so we teach them that as well. "
" When youth come into the program
and they make it through all
the steps and they officially become
hired, they submit [a list of] their
skills or what areas they would like to
work in, " Meewis says. " While a lot
of the employees come in and they
end up working within the recreation
department, some have shown that
they want to...learn more about administration,
business and finance.
So, we give them opportunities to
go and work with other departments
in the city. " He says they've had employees
work within the finance department,
human resources, community
development and even the city
manager's office.
The Pandemic
and U.S. Census
The Youth Employment Program
flourished in 2019, but the coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic threw
SYRC a major curve ball in March
2020. " That was right about when
we were getting ready to open up
our program to the community as a
whole, " recalls Meewis. " While rec
departments were shutting down and
I was sending employees home, our
mayor was asking, 'How do we get
these kids back in here?' We weren't
offering programs. So, we came up
with a variety of different things [so
that] we could put these kids to work.
They were working outside, pulling
weeds [and] cleaning up the streets. "
This also was right at the beginning
of the city's 2020 U.S. Census
push. According to Meewis: " A lot
of these kids went door to door hanging
census [material] on residents'
houses and just trying to increase
our numbers, because, obviously, we
know how big a deal the census is. "
Aside from the census push, youth
employees also helped with food distribution
through the city and school
districts. " We basically put them to
work any way we could, " notes Meewis,
" and gave them a meaningful
task that they could go home at the
end of the day and say, 'You know
what? I did good work today.' "
Looking Ahead
How does Meewis and his team see
this program evolving over the next
five years? " I would love to have more
involvement through other [city] departments, "
he says. " Ideally, I would
like to see a pathway for [youth] to
go into public safety, police and fire. I
think a lot of cities are having a hard
time with hiring police officers, and I
think if there's a way that we can get
these kids to turn their life from being
one way to then going the other way
into public safety, that will be really
beneficial, especially here in Seaside. "
Black believes lowering the age limit
down to 15 across the board in the
community would help with what
they do. " They all need jobs, and that's
just to keep their minds active, keep
them invested in something different
other than being on a video game at
home and just really not being productive, "
he says. " Putting them out
there in the work world at an early
age, teaching them the responsibility
of independence and learning how
to stand on their own two feet [are]
invaluable. And so, hopefully, within
the next five years, we can get buy-in
throughout our own community to
do the same thing that we're doing. "
For now, the SYRC staff will continue
reaching out to at-risk youth to
get them off the streets and into their
program to turn the tide of their circumstances
and help them work toward
a meaningful future.
Vitisia Paynich is Executive Editor and Director of Print and
Online Content at NRPA (vpaynich@nrpa.org).
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | FEBR U AR Y 2 0 2 3
| Parks & Recreation
51
PHOTO COURTESY OF SEASIDE RECREATION STAFF
February 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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