In early June, Jon Bon Jovi and I wrapped up the first leg of our Listening Tour on behalf of the White House Council for Community Solutions.
After traveling to New Orleans, Atlanta and Houston, Jon and I, as New Jersey residents, felt strongly that we needed to hear the voices of youth in our own backyard.
So this time, we went to Newark, where we visited The Youth Education & Employment (YE2S) Center and spoke with young adults from multiple local youth-serving organizations. Mayor Cory Booker and Bill Strickland, CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation and a fellow member of the White House Council for Community Solutions, also joined for the conversation.
Time and again, Jon and I have heard that these youth-serving organizations fill a deep void – they provide a second chance through “comfort and community”, as one young woman from Newark Now said, and make these young adults feel like they belong. They also teach valuable life skills, showing these youth how to communicate and helping them get jobs.
With all of this great work, you might think that word is getting out about these non-profits – but the truth is that we need to do a better job of publicizing their resources and accomplishments. Wouldn’t it be great if, rather than these youth hearing about La Casa de Don Pedro from a parole officer, they learned about it through social media, like Facebook or Twitter? Or what if local governments develop a “one-stop” website, where their city’s youth can discover such organizations and the opportunities they provide, such as that proposed by Councilman Michael Julian Bond after our Atlanta session.
As funding for these organizations are decreased or, in many cases, eliminated, these are simple, low-cost steps that we, as a country, can take to start improving the lives of our youth. I look forward to listening and learning more over the next year, and passing along our recommendations to the President.