Photo courtesy Triskeles Programs.

Triskeles Programs, a non-profit organization teaching youth the skills needed to live a healthy life, as well as teamwork and leadership skills, is offering a few great free afterschool programs and a paid summer internship for local teens. The afterschool programs start on April 6, and summer internships in the Green Economy kick off on June 22. All programs are offered at the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, 3509 Spring Garden Street. Here are more details:

      Free After school Classes in Cooking, Gardening, &  Environment Studies

What: Three programs are offered: The Cooking and Nutrition Program integrates activities such as recipe reading; study of food groups and nutritional guidelines; and menu planning and budgeting. The Urban Sustainability Program provides youth a hands-on introduction to the key environmental issues facing urban communities. The Urban Agriculture Program gives youth practical experiences in the basic concepts related to growing healthy organic food in urban settings.  Continue Reading

If you have passion for active modes of transportation that you want to share with other community members and if you have good communication and problem-solving skills, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia would like to hear from you.

Philly’s first bike share program is launching this spring, and the Bicycle Coalition is currently hiring Bike Share station ambassadors to work with communities in the following West Philly neighborhoods: Mantua, Powelton Village, West Powelton, Saunders Park, and Spruce Hill. This is a part-time (approximately 5 hours/week) and seasonal (until October 2015) position and comes with a $1,000 stipend.

Bike Share Ambassadors will work primarily from home and at community events and will need to complete a two-week training.

A Bike Share Ambassador’s duties and responsibilities include:  Continue Reading

University City District‘s program, West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI), is seeking West Philly residents for security jobs in the area. Training will be provided. Here are more details.

WPSI’s Connect to Success training program, which connects West Philadelphians with the region’s premier employers, is partnering with Allied Barton Security Services and will train and prepare security professionals for work on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. The next session for the program starts in November. In June, all graduates of this program received job offers from Allied Barton, according to a WPSI press release.

The Connect to Success program offers:

• 5 weeks of training and preferential candidate status with Allied Barton Security Services
• Performance-based stipends awarded for successful classroom performance
• Professional development and work-readiness skill-building
• Financial education and more

If you meet the criteria listed below, you’re welcome to apply for the program:

• Unemployed
• A resident of West Philadelphia – as defined by zip codes 19104, 19131, 19139, 19143, 19151
• A high school graduate or possess a GED
• Able to commit to at least 30 hours of weekly training beginning November 10, 2014
• Experienced in security, customer service, military, or hospitality (preferred)

Interested individuals can complete an online application here or download and print the program application (WPSI Application – Fall 2014_pdf) and then mail/fax it to WPSI. Application deadline is Friday, Oct. 24. There will be an information session about the program on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 3730 Walnut Street (Huntsman Hall, Room 240). Please RSVP by calling 1-888-291-5404. For more information about WPSI, visit their website. You can also check out their Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.

Philadelphia Streets Department is seeking young adults, who are not enrolled in higher education and are unemployed, for its paid job-skill training and real-world work program called Philly Future Track. Applications are currently being accepted for the program’s third session, tentatively scheduled to begin on Monday, Sept. 15.

Throughout the six-month program, participants will work in teams to clean and beautify Philadelphia’s streets, while completing an educational program to improve their skills for future job prospects. Although it is a temporary employment opportunity, the program is designed to provide career readiness to its participants. The young people enrolled in the program receive enough resources and education to transition into full time employment, attend a two or four year higher education institution, enter into a vocational training program or school or be prepared to take the military aptitude test.

To qualify, applicants must be a Philadelphia resident and eligible to work in the U.S. To benefit the most from the program, applicants should be between 18-24 years old.

Completed applications must be submitted in the Philly Future Track drop box located in the first floor lobby of the Municipal Services Building (1401 JFK Boulevard, across from City Hall). Applications are accepted by 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 12.

To download your Philly Future Track application and for more information, visit: www.philadelphiastreets.com/philly-future-track
 

Here’s a great opportunity for local youth this summer. West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution (WPFSI) is currently accepting applications for their WesGold Fellows summer internship program for current 10th and 11th grades in Philadelphia high schools. The internship covers topics of personal finance, college planning, career and personal development through college level instruction, field trips, networking with professionals and giving presentations (see flyer below for more information).

The application can be found on www.wpfsi.com, by calling 215-452-0100 or emailing: juliana@wpfsi.com. Application deadline is April 1, 2014.

Thanks to an $82,000 grant from The Barra Foundation, University City District’s West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI) will move employment training site, West Philadelphia Skills Center for Economic Advancement, from pilot phase to a fully-integrated, holistic approach.

The Center for Economic Advancement, located at Community College of Philadelphia West on 47^th and Chestnut Streets, was opened in 2012 as an intensive soft job skill training site that helps bridge the employment gap in West Philadelphia. The Barra grant will allow WPSI, which launched in 2010 to address issues of unemployment and poverty in the community, to implement the most effective strategies tested during the Center’s pilot phase over the last year.

“From recruitment, assessment and selection to programming and evaluation plans, we have studied which approaches work best with our participants and our employers,” WPSI Director Sheila Ireland told West Philly Local. “Although we will maintain a stance of continuous improvement, we know feel that we have a good understanding of what works.”

According to the Pew Charitable Trusts’ 2013 State of the City, the median household income for the University City region is $21,801, with 48.1 percent of residents living in poverty. In West Philadelphia’s West Market region, the numbers are slightly higher—$26,487 and 33.8 percent. West Philadelphia Skills Initiative aims to change that tide by connecting local residents with partnering employers that have operations in West Philadelphia through its three programs: the Center for Economic Advancement, Job Pipelines, and the Youth Employment Network. Last year, WPSI worked with over 130 participants across all three programs, which either provide training or professional internships in the medical assistance, information technology, landscaping, lab technology, administrative, and security industries among others.  Continue Reading