Grow Detroit’s Young Talent program sees over 5,000 applications started in first 24 hours
Detroit’s summer youth employment program, ‘Grow Detroit’s Young Talent’ has seen over 5,000 applications started in the first 24 hours.
The annual program, which is now in its 5th year, was officially launched Thursday by Mayor Mike Duggan alongside a number of business, philanthropic and community partners. Since the portal opened at www.GDYT.org, hundreds of youth have visited every hour and over 5,000 applications have been started.
“The number of applications that have already been started shows how youth have been actively watching and waiting for the application window to open” said Mayor Duggan. “There is now an expectation from our youth that this program will be there for them, and that’s how it should be.”
The employment period will not start until July but applications are being accepted through the GDYT website until March 15. Youth have the ability to save applications and return to them later if they need to locate additional paperwork or information.
The City yesterday announced a major new commitment from the Marjorie S. Fisher Fund at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan to provide up to $150,000 in Dollar-for-Dollar matching of donations to GDYT from new individuals, small businesses and community supporters.
“There is a pent-up desire in the community to be able to support programs that uplift our youth and this generous offer from the Fisher Fund will help unlock that individual giving” said Mayor Duggan. “Any size donation helps support important career opportunities for our youth. The dollar-for-dollar match means that even small donations can go a long way.”
Employers interested in becoming a sponsor or providing summer work experiences for Detroit youth may register at the GDYT website also.
Employers can participate in GDYT in four ways:
- Become an Employer Partner by sponsoring a 6-week paid work experience (up to 120 hours) at your workplace for $1,800 per youth
- If you cannot financially support a full sponsorship, a 50:50 match of $900 per youth is available to support the 6-week paid work experience (up to 120 hours) at your workplace
- Be recognized as an Affiliate Partner by directly hiring youth through an existing employment opportunity or summer employment program that you already operate
- Make a financial contribution to the GDYT program to support summer youth work experiences
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