TeenWorks
Your generosity makes Madison County a place teenagers want to return home to and empowers the next generation of leaders.
TeenWorks is committed to empowering underserved teens with knowledge, skills, and experiences to attain long term and sustainable futures. The TeenWorks’ Anderson Summer Program is transforming the lives of local teens by providing them with paid employment, essential career skills, and a sense of belonging within the community.
Through a $10,000 grant from the Madison County Community Foundation, 72 teens are gaining valuable work experience this summer, helping local nonprofits while earning wages, receiving mentorship, and developing crucial soft skills like communication and teamwork.
TeenWorks has developed strong relationships with local nonprofit organizations and businesses that provide employment and learning opportunities for summer participants, including the Impact Center, Anderson Housing Authority, St.Vincent Ascension, and Sherman Street Church of God, among others. Teens engage in work such as maintenance, summer programs for children, gardening, food pantry organization, groundskeeping, health care, and professional internships.
JaMicah (Anderson High School, class of 2025) first joined TeenWorks in the summer before her senior year. With an interest in healthcare, she was assigned to work at Ascension St. Vincent. Throughout the summer, she participated in mock rotations through different departments of the hospital. She says that experience gave her a new vision of working in health care and got her thinking about her future career. Specifically, she said, “One thing that I learned through TeenWorks is that I am capable of exploring a variety of career fields and I am not limited to just one path of life.”
She plans on attending Ball State in the fall to study biology and pre-med. JaMicah was a recipient of the TeenWorks scholarship and will receive continued support through the TeenWorks Alumni Program and on-campus resources through TeenWorks at BSU, an extension of the program embedded on campus. She hopes to return to Ascension St. Vincent for her career, saying she loves how surgery teams work together to make people healthy again.
One of the most significant barriers for low-income teens is access to work-based learning opportunities. TeenWorks addresses this challenge by offering transportation, meals, professional attire, and paid work opportunities that directly impact their future careers. As a result, participants in Anderson report understanding the importance of high school graduation and feel more confident about their future paths.
Your generosity and investment in these teenagers’ futures not only enriches their lives but also plays a vital role in the workforce development of Anderson. The relationships formed and the skills learned create a foundation of hope and success, making our community a place they’ll want to return to. Learn more at www.teenworks.org
Every gift, large and small, contributes to the mission of Madison County Community Foundation to invest in lasting positive change to elevate and strengthen Madison County. Our vision is for this to be a community where every person has the opportunity to thrive and this drives everything that we do. Consider giving to the Impact Madison Fund to help us continue to meet emerging local needs through discretionary grantmaking. Impact Madison Grants support nonprofit programs in the areas of Arts, Culture, and History, Health and Human Services, Education, Thriving Community, and Women and Children.
