Good News For NYC’s Unemployed Young Adults

If you’re one of those quirky, quasi-artistic types who opted to doodle in class rather than pay attention to what the teacher was saying, or perhaps you dropped out of school before getting your degree, because your head was always in the clouds, but you’ve matured (and focused) a little since then and desperately wish you could go back and do it over again the right way, well…

(…deep breath…)

…There’s hope for you yet.

Fortunately for us underachievers, and I am the worst of them, Kingsborough Community College (KCC) has been awarded a $1.8 million, four-year grant by the CEO and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City to implement the “Young Adult Program” for young adults.

The program, part of the federal Social Innovation Fund, will aid unemployed 18- to 24-year-olds (which disqualifies me — yay, more grant money for you youngsters!) who are out of school and lack a high school diploma or GED “to re-engage in productive activities through a combination of educational opportunities, paid internships, and case management as a pathway to long-term economic self-sufficiency.”

Kingsborough is part of an elite group as well. The school, at 2001 Oriental boulevard, will be one of only 18 providers selected by CEO and the Mayor’s Fund to replicate CEO’s programs across the county. Funding, according to the release, is provided by the federal Social Innovation Fund, a public-private partnership designed to expand effective programs, and private funders, including Bloomberg Philanthropies and Open Society Foundations.

The school will provide paid internships, educational opportunities, and support for 200 disconnected young adults throughout New York City. Kingsborough’s Center for Economic and Workforce Development will manage the grant and MDRC, a nonprofit social policy and research organization, will assist with the implementation and conduct an evaluation of the program.

“We look forward to expanding the KCC tradition of serving young adults with innovative programs,” said Dr. Stuart Schulman, executive director of KCC CEWD.

“We are delighted that KCC, the only New York college provider, has been selected to create and implement a program to help young disenfranchised men and women to re-engage in meaningful, productive activity in a manner that leads to long-term economic self-sufficiency and self-pride,” said Dr. Regina Peruggi, president of KCC.