Students paint a brighter future
By Chris Treadway
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 08/20/2009 08:35:22 PM PDT
Updated: 08/22/2009 06:14:59 PM PDT
ABOUT
THE ONLY downside to be found with a summer youth apprenticeship
program in the Crescent Park neighborhood is that the nine young men
participating came away with paint-spattered bluejeans. Everything else about the program looks like a winner for all involved.
While
the nine teenagers and young adults spent much of the summer learning a
useful skill, the more than 14,200 lineal feet of fence surrounding the
378-unit Crescent Park affordable housing complex in South Richmond
received a new coat of paint.
Painting contractor Derek Barrett found a way to reach out to the area where he grew up and possibly found some new employees. Crescent
Park found a benefactor in paint-maker Kelly Moore, which donated some
400 gallons of its new "eco paint" for the project. And
the community found that a collaboration like this can go a long way to
keeping young people out of trouble and on track for a productive life
after high school.
"They're
a great group of kids. They did a great job," said Barrett, the founder
and owner of D&B Painting, a 16-year-old firm based in Oakland.
Barrett noted that he "grew up around the corner on Cutting Boulevard."The
young painters were honored Friday by the partners in the "Paint a
Brighter Future" program — including the city's YouthWORKS office,
Kelly Moore Paints, Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, and officials from Crescent
Park and its owner, nonprofit organization EAH Housing.
"They
learned the business of painting: preparation, the 'no-drip' policy,
properly mixing paint," said Bernard Furlow of D&B Painting. "Once
you show them how they just seem to go and do it, which is great
because they can show independence and the ability to complete the
task."
Just as important was what he called "the cool factor." "It's
cool to make legitimate money," he said. "We're hoping the more we do
in the community the kids will see it and want to come out and be part
of it."
The
painting apprenticeship was part of the city's YouthWORKS summer
employment program, which provided job experience for 660 young people
at 140 sites around the city, said program director Jay Leonhardy.
"That
makes us the largest youth employment program in the state and that's
because the community steps up," he said, pointing out that $200,000 of
this year's $500,000 YouthWORKS budget comes from individual and
company or organization donations.
Charles
Baldwin, a 17-year-old at El Cerrito High School, found "Paint a
Brighter Future" beneficial beyond the $1,000 in pay he earned putting
in 30-hour weeks."I like doing this. I learned it fast," he said. "I want to do this when I graduate."
"This
affords young people an alternative to getting into the kinds of things
they should not be getting into," said Kelly Crowell, director of the
Crescent Park Multicultural Family Resource Center for EAH.
They
learn a skill and the concept of earning money. It's a guide in terms
of their future about making good choices. Their peers look up to them
as role models.
Reach Chris Treadway at 510-262-2784 or ctreadway@bayareanewsgroup.com.
