Blog: City Blog

Save Our Sons Initiative Partners Plan for Busy Summer

The Mayor’s Save Our Sons Partner Roundtable met last week to share their current efforts to support boys and young men of color ages 14-24 and the future of those efforts.

Representatives from SEEED, Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, Emerald Youth Foundation, Friends of Literacy, Girl Talk Inc, Project GRAD, Freedom Schools, Youth Villages, Wesley House, and Pellissippi State introduced themselves and told Mayor Rogero and Community Relations staff members about their current projects, which include:

- Knoxville Police Department’s Explorer Unit for ages 14-18 interested in a career or experience in law enforcement;

- Job-readiness training for ages 18-24 starting June 12 at SEED Knoxville;

- Summer Kids in Play (SKIP) is an 8.5-week summer day camp for ages 5 to 14; includes reading challenge, swimming lessons, growing vegetables and cooking at YWCA Phyllis Wheatley, 124 S. Cruze St.;

- The Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley’s YouthForce program helps young people ages 14-18 make post-high school plans;

- Emerald Youth Sports is prepping for its summer swim and track teams as well as the Elston Turner Basketball Camp;

- Pellissippi State Community College offers free preparedness programs for fall semester enrollees, including math boot camps and the KITE (Knoxville area Information Technology and Engineering) program;

- Big Brothers and Big Sisters of East Tennessee is launching a Mentor 2.0 program for freshmen at South-Doyle High School;

- Project GRAD Knoxville is placing young people in paid Hands on the Future internship positions with several area companies, providing them with experience in careers outside fast good and grocery stores;

- Friends of Literacy is focusing its efforts on the 1 in 10 adults who are functionally illiterate, establishing one-on-one tutoring opportunities for working people;

- Wesley House’s summer reading program will reward its top readers with new bicycles from Bike Elf;

- Girl Talk’s Life Prep pilot program will provide existing participants in their junior and senior years with life skills, like finding a place to live, being financially responsible, etc.;

- The Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) Freedom Schools program is a six-week long summer enrichment program that helps children fall in love with reading, increases their self-esteem, cultivates positive attitudes toward learning, and reduces summer reading loss—one of the major challenges affecting poor and working-class children;

- Youth Villages help former foster and transition-age youth ages 17 – 22 adjust to adulthood.

The Save Our Sons initiative was established by Mayor Rogero to address the opportunity gap for boys and young men of color ages 14-24, who are profoundly affected by gun violence in our community. Organizations that partner with Save Our Sons initiative receive support and guidance from City staff and may receive funding from a TCCRP grant.

For more information, visit KnoxvilleTN.gov/saveoursons.

Posted by ptravis On 24 May, 2018 at 1:55 PM