Darryl George, a 33-year-old resident of Jennings, said he knows how to “get by” and support his two daughters by working temporary labor jobs. But he wants a full-time, stable position so he can save for his daughters’ futures and be a role model for his five-year-old nephew, who doesn’t have a father figure in his life.
“I have a lot of friends my age who didn’t make it to my age,” he said. “They either passed away, are in jail or let drugs get the best of them. I’ve learned a lot from those mistakes and have made my own. I’m trying to be a positive role model.”
On Monday, January 12, George went to his first class in the Save Our Sons program, a job-training initiative created by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis in response to the Ferguson unrest. The classes are designed to give George a skill set for landing the job he wants, which is a full-time construction career.
The four-week job-training program specifically aims to help economically-disadvantaged African-American men living in Ferguson and surrounding St. Louis County communities find jobs and earn livable wages.
On Tuesday, January 13, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis President and CEO Michael McMillan announced that the organization has received $1.25 million to fully launch the program. That pays for 500 participants over two years. Various corporations donated to the project, including The Monsanto Fund, Emerson, AT&T, Wells Fargo Advisors, Anheuser-Busch, and Regions and Reliance banks.
McMillan said when he and his staff went out on the streets to talk with the young men on the protest lines, they said they wanted jobs. In fact, the unemployment rate for African-American males is triple the overall average in St. Louis city and county, with a rate of about 11 percent, he said.
To answer their call, the Urban League decided to expand their existing program for job training, which is targeted at high school students. For 14 years, the Urban League has led a Workforce Investment Act program (WIA), a federally-funded initiative that has reached 6,000 local high school students.
Save Our Sons will reach out to young men between the ages of 17 and 40 and help them pass General Educational Development (GED) tests, receive workforce training, and teach financial literacy and leadership strategies.
Andrew Ockert, a 21-year-old phone technician with AT&T, participated in the Urban League’s WIA program when he was 14 and a student in the Hazelwood School District. Between the classes and his mentor, he feels the program helped him get on a path of success.
“We got to see exactly how you do it,” he said, referring to getting a job. “My first impression of the program was, ‘It will take work. You’re not going to get it on the first try.’”
Ockert, who lives in Ferguson, said he believes the program can make a difference in Ferguson, but the men have to put in the effort.
“The question is, ‘Do I really want a job?’” he said. “That’s what the men in the program will have to ask themselves.”
The Save the Sons model isn’t much different from what they’ve already been doing with youth, said Herta Shikapwashya, vice president of the Urban League’s youth services division.
The training sessions will include everything from public speaking and team-building to emergency financial preparation and health care. However, with this group, she imagines that case managers will be having more conversations on how to work through certain barriers, such as child care and bench warrants. Shikapwashya will oversee the program, and courses will be held at North St. Louis County locations.
Jaime Dennis, an instructor in the program, said they’ve been out knocking on doors and blasting social media to get the word out about the program. Currently 80 percent of the participants in the Urban League’s overall programs are single mothers. McMillan said that’s why this program is geared towards men – because they don’t seem to be seeking out the Urban League opportunities as women do.
“This couldn’t come at a better time,” Dennis said. “The unrest in Ferguson is deeply rooted within the economic situation.”
Dennis said he believes that the program is not just another “passing hope of promises of employment.”
“People are used to living in a culture where they are not expected to meet the status quo,” he said. “We expect these guys to be on time – no absences – and be totally engaged in the program.”
Actor and entrepreneur Malik Yoba, known for his roles in the Fox police drama “New York Undercover” and the movie “Cool Running,” attended the press conference and pledged his support to the program. He said he tells his three children that the most important thing he can teach them is how to think.
“When you get paid to think, it’s powerful,” he said. “So many times in these communities, if people can’t see success then they shun it.”
Yoba said he’s been talking to a number of people around the country – designers, artists, musicians, and architects – about ways to offer support.
“People are asking what they can do,” he said. “So that’s exciting. Outside of here, there are a lot of people who want to bring something to the community.”
