PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION'S YOUTH CONSERVATION CREW PROVIDES FOR AT-RISK TEENS
Posted: July 13th, 2011 9:18 AM
July 13th, 2011
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Mark Ross, Public Information Officer
503.823.5300; cell 503.823.6634
Portland Parks & Recreation's Youth Conservation Crew Provides for At-Risk Teens
Jobs, Opportunities for Portland Teens
(Portland, OR)-
Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) is providing nearly 60 Portland teens with jobs and life opportunities through the Youth Conservation Crew (YCC). PP&R's YCC program employs youth from ages 14-18 to work on teams enhancing the Bureau's highly-valued natural areas.
YCC teens help build and maintain Portland's extensive network of trails, establish and maintain Portland's abundant trees, remove invasive plant species from our beautiful urban forests, restore impacted natural areas to healthy ecosystems, and educate the community about our urban forests and parks. The YCC serves to engage Portland's youth as leaders in environmental and community stewardship while enhancing the health and sustainability of our natural areas.
Many of these teens are identified as at-risk youth and/or are recruited from low-income schools (classified as schools where 75% of students have free or reduced lunches). Some have been steered away from gangs.
We invite the media to schedule a time with us to come see these remarkable teens in action, and learn about the hardships and success they've endured and enjoy, respectively.
Here are some dates that might work well for a story.
Teens working in PP&R Natural Areas:
* July 25, 26, 28, 29-Trails Crew doing trail maintenance Elk Rock Island
* July 26, August 2 or August 9 - Lane SUN School / Brentwood Park (10 - 11:30)
* July 28, August 4 or August 11 - Sitton SUN School / Pier Park (1:30 - 3pm)
* August 15, 16 - No Ivy League at Marshall Park
* July 21, 22 - East Restoration Crew at Oaks Bottom installing fencing, closing trails
Teens learning about the environment:
* July 20-Columbia Slough Canoe Trip - Multiple Crews (116th and NE Simpson)
July 27-Columbia Slough Canoe Trip -- Multiple Crews (116th and NE Simpson)
The Youth Conservation Crew is currently in its 3rd year of operation.
The valuable work that YCC teens assist with allows PP&R to finish important projects faster--- at the same time, the teens experience valuable real-world work and practices.
This year, the Youth Conservation Crew is partnering with SE Works; a G-E-D program and a partner of PP&R.
Together, we employ 57 teens working in various divisions which include:
12 with Portland Parks & Recreation trails crews, working on building and maintaining trails, plantings trees and removing invasive species from Portland's natural areas.
18 with the No-Ivy League to restore the native habitat of Forest Park and other natural areas with efforts in removing invasive plants, youth development programs, environmental education, and community participation - promoting research, providing technical assistance, and seeking relevant societal changes.
6 on the TNT-Teen Naturalist Team
15 with SE Works - doing maintenance and projects on PP&R eastside properties
6 on Tree Establishment Crews, doing tree maintenance on Parks and area school properties.
The inception of the Youth Conservation Crew came in 2009 with City Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Mayor Adams identifying a need for more teen employment in Portland.
The City created the YCC and modeled it after existing successful programs like the No-Ivy league and Greenspaces Restoration and Urban Naturalist Team (GRUNT) team. Graduation from the GRUNT program is an excellent way for teens to get serious consideration for admission to the Youth Conservation Crew.
GRUNT info: http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/index.cfm?c=51570&a=278719
YCC also partners with Mayor's Office of Youth Violence Prevention. OYVP is designed for youth who are considered to be "gang-affected"; someone in their close circle is involved with gangs in a manner that affects the youth; or the youth themselves are at risk at joining a gang.
For more info on the remarkable stories of teens in PP&R's Youth Conservation Crew please go to:
http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/index.cfm?c=52587
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Mark Ross Public Information Officer
Portland Parks & Recreation
503.823.5300 (office); 503.823.6634 (cell)
Mark.ross@portlandoregon.gov
Healthy Parks, Healthy Portland
portlandparks.org
Nick Fish, Commissioner | Sue Keil, Interim Director
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