A Summer Well Done

The YouthBuild program is an employment training program for at-risk youth primarily from Hennepin County. Participants rehab and rebuild homes in low-income neighborhoods with our housing partner, Urban Homeworks. During the school year, the program operates in conjunction with alternative schools so that youth attend school and work during alternate weeks. 

This summer, Tree Trust offered an extended program to participants who earned a spot on an advanced crew through their work ethic and attitude during the school year program. Advanced crew participants worked five days per week from June through August with the daily guidance, support and encouragement of their crew leader. The advanced crew finished their summer work on August 24 and the following article is written by their crew leader, Ty Nelson. 

Learn more about the program or apply here. 

It was near program’s end when I was asked for a highlight of the 2012 YouthBuild Advanced Summer Crew. But I couldn’t provide a single example; not for the reason that my group had done nothing memorable in ten weeks, but because their accomplishments were countless. I simply couldn’t narrow their achievements down to one crowning point. Therefore, like a proud poppa, I rattled off a highlight reel instead of a lone capstone. 

From June 18 till August 24 the ambitious contingent worked on various Urban Homeworks properties in North Minneapolis. They set the tone instantly, fleetly finishing the garage they started from the slab up this past April. In fact they shingled, sided, and installed the stall’s soffit and fascia in less than a fortnight. And during the Dog Days to follow, the five-member squad completed many challenging tasks, such as tearing down a four-story chimney, spending three days reroofing another garage, siding two more, and putting in the drain tile around an entire basement in just one day. Due to their efficiency and consistency, the summer crew was appropriately deemed the “A-Team” by Urban Homeworks staff.

Though the A-Team’s construction skills were excellent, what I found more impressive was their character. They took a lot of pride in their work. There were numerous moments, for instance, when I saw a YouthBuilder remove a length of siding or tear off a shingle in order to realign the piece perfectly. They also displayed great teamwork. On a couple of occasions my group collaborated with the Quicksilvers—Urban’s longtime lineup of mostly retired professionals—successfully installing several new windows on two different houses. Last but not least, the crew members proved their tenacity time and time again. Despite the difficulty of the project, the umpteen wasp nests they uncovered, or whether the weather was sweltering, they were rarely fazed. Attendance was normally 90% or better. 

The YouthBuilders sought ways to grow off the jobsite too. Not only did they earn their CPR/First Aid certifications, but they volunteered for a morning in the Food Bank at Second Harvest Heartland as well. Interested in furthering their education, they also toured the campuses of Hennepin Tech and Saint Paul College.

Regardless of their aforementioned feats, however, I’d say the best part of my experience with the Advanced Summer Crew (if I had to choose) was witnessing this group accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. Because of their remarkable resolve, I’m naturally excited for what the future has in store for these five go-getters. I’m sure there are many more highlights to come. 

—Tyrel Nelson, YouthBuild Crew Leader

Youth Conservation Corps

There have been some questions on social media lately regarding the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) and the work that Tree Trust participants do in public spaces around the metro – primarily public park and recreation areas and the Midtown Greenway.

This work, which is enhancing public spaces and benefiting the community at minimal cost to the municipalities, is being done by the Tree Trust Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), which is part of the Summer Youth Employment Program. The majority of program participants are 14-17 years old and this program provides a first job experience to these youth, all of which have special needs, are low-income, or have other at-risk characteristics.

Youth build projects in Twin Cities parks and recreation areas such as retaining walls, stairways, timber edgers, and paver pathways. This program provides a learning experience that youth would not otherwise have and provides them an opportunity to spend 16-24 hours per week being positively involved in their communities.

In addition to providing worthwhile enhancements to public spaces, the projects that YCC participants build are a means to an end; they provide the method by which youth learn teamwork, accountability, and responsibility, as well as landscaping and construction skills. Youth are learning these skills while on the job and do not work as quickly as experienced adults. Additionally, they cannot operate power tools or heavy equipment, which significantly speed up projects at many construction sites where trained adults work.

As the Youth Conservation Corps is a job training program, youth do not work the entire time they are on a job site. In addition to their projects, youth participate in TeamTech lessons via laptop computers at work sites that allow them the opportunity to earn high school credit. These lessons are taught by trained instructors. Additionally, Tree Trust abides by all labor laws and provides water and lunch breaks according to regulations.

Tree Trust has worked closely with parks departments and municipalities all over the metro for 36 years. These partners provide projects to participants that fit the skill set of inexperienced workers and can be finished in the nine weeks that the program operates each summer. Additionally, parks departments and municipalities provide only the materials for the project and do not pay Tree Trust or its participants for their time. The projects are supervised by trained adults and meet Tree Trust's, and our partners', high standards. 

Please visit our Facebook page to view project photos or our website to learn more. If you have specific questions, please feel free to call our office at 952-767-3880.

Youth Conservation Corps picnics

Tree Trust will recognize and honor participants from our Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), which is a sub-program of the Summer Youth Employment Program, at five picnics in the metro area this week and next week. This summer, the program served more than 300 at-risk, special needs and low-income youth, ages 14-21, from the Twin Cities metro area.

Throughout the nine week program, participants have made improvements to local parks and recreation areas in Minneapolis and Saint Paul and in Hennepin, Washington and Dakota counties. The Youth Conservation Corps provides a summer employment experience to participating youth, and also helps participants to create lasting, positive changes in their communities and in their own lives.

Working from June to August, Youth Conservation Corps crews completed numerous improvement projects in approximately 25 Twin Cities parks and recreation areas, including the Midtown Greenway, Como Park, Westwood Hills Nature Center, French Regional Park, Square Lake Park, and North Valley Park. The picnics will be held to celebrate the accomplishments of these youth, including the presentation of Governor’s Awards to a number of youth who demonstrated outstanding leadership on their crews.

View photos of projects and participants on our Facebook page!

Community Forestry Highlights

This summer we had a great intern, Christina, who did a lot of video work for Tree Trust. We'll be posting some of her work in the coming weeks and months. Here is the first installment:

Enjoy!

Individual Employment Placements

The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) has two sub-programs, the Youth Conservation Corps and Individual Employment Placements. You have already seen a blog entries about the Youth Conservation Corps, but probably know less about Individual Employment Placements. For the individual placement portion of the program, SYEP staff works with a variety of community partners like libraries, governmental agencies, businesses, and nonprofits that are able to provide employment experiences to youth participants. Youth work in these community organizations and learn skills in the areas of customer service, childcare, janitorial, and administrative, among others.

Some examples of organizations where Tree Trust youth are placed this summer include ARC's Value Village in Richfield, Intermediate School District 287 in Plymouth, South St Paul Library in Hastings, Feed My Starving Children in Eagan, Independent School Districts 192 and 196 in Rosemount and Farmington, and the City of Brooklyn Center. There are 89 sites in total and 317 youth participants from Dakota and Hennepin Counties in the Individual Employment Placement portion of SYEP.

Providing this program allows Tree Trust to increase the number of youth we serve, provide more variety of experience, and work with youth who may not be able to participate on the Youth Conservation Corps. If you are interested in hosting a Tree Trust participant at your workplace next summer, please contact us.