|
What
We Do
Meaningful,
honorable work is critical to a happy life. But too often
the lives of people of color are closed to the opportunities
of rewarding work. For two years we researched the lives of
students of color in challenged areas like Marin's own Canal
neighborhood and in South Central and East Los Angeles. We
discovered that often, because of racial conventions, many
of these young people were not finding the education and support
they needed. Many who tried to make their way in higher learning
felt lost and alienated. Many have taken jobs that are well
below their talents and which pay meager wages. Many work
in places that they feel are not honorable – places that devalue
workers,
that pollute or damage the environment, that are not safe
or are destructive to the community.
We
at Five 4 Five want to change this. We want young people of
color in Marin to have choices in how they move about in the
world and in the work they choose. We select our students
in teams of five so that they will have support, not only
from us, their mentors and job counselors, but also from each
other and from their general community. We work with them
for five years because we want them to have consistent guidance
and a feeling of inclusiveness in our organization. We ask
each Five 4 Five member to return and mentor others so that
what they have gained can be given to others, too.
Our
services include:
- Scholarship
and life planning guidance and mentoring
- Stipends
for living expenses and to overcome financial crises
- Business
and cultural introductions that expand their
opportunities
in the world
- Job
connections that assure them better financial support
- Textbook
and school material grants
- Guidance
for college and job interviews.
- Emotional
support and introduction to new social venues
- Skill building
workshops like our Boat Building Project
for those who wish
to enter into engineering, design, and construction.
- Creation
of our Speaker's Bureau, which offers them a chance to share
their success stories with hundreds of other young people.
Please
contact us for more information
about what we do and how we can help.
|
