Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence

A Minimum Wage Job That Pays Better Than Minimum Wage

Photo:  The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman

Article by Bob Kerr, The Providence Journal, August 15, 2010 

The job program at the Institute For the Study and Practice of Nonviolence is geared toward youths 14 to 19, who live in Providence and have little chance of finding a job anywhere else. Francisco Montanez,  right, has been in and out of trouble. “There’s no point in dying for nothing,” he says. He has a summer job cleaning a Providence elementary school.

During the interview for the summer job program, the kids are asked to list goals for the coming year. A bunch of them say the same thing:  “I just want to stay alive.”

It is not overdone teenage dramatics. It is the way it is. The people doing the interviews know too well that these kids are looking at very few options and most of them are bad. Simple survival is one of the good ones.

The basic question and the very basic answer are further proof, if any were needed, that most of us don’t have a clue. It tells us we have no idea of the distance some kids have to cover just to get to the starting line of a life that might turn normal — if a few things break the right way.

So this job, this summer job at minimum wage, is vital. It is an introduction to how things work in places where violence is not an everyday thing and showing up on time is part of the plan.

BankRI donations help Nonviolence Institute, other organizations

BANKING
BankRI donations help youth organizations
By William Hamilton
PBN Staff Writer
Sep 16, 2008

PROVIDENCE – Bank Rhode Island recently provided a $30,500 helping hand to 15
youth organizations during summer vacation and assisted youngsters in other ways, too.

Youth organizations and events receiving support from BankRI this summer included: 

• The March of Dimes 2008 Citizen of the Year event to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

"In the inner city, a summer job can be a lifesaver"

In the inner city, a summer job can be a lifesaver

The Providence Journal

Friday, July 11, 2008
By W. Zachary Malinowski, Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE

A part-time summer job may have saved Anthony Ericastilla’s life.

The teenager struggled through his freshman year at Hope High School. He skipped school, hung out with gang members and was disrespectful to his parents, immigrants from Guatemala who had moved to the city’s Silver Lake neighborhood in search of a better life.

Anthony’s mother, Corina Barraza, was at wit’s end. She turned to the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence, in South Providence, for help. The institute welcomed Barraza and the staff expressed concern for her plight. They assigned three streetworkers to her son and helped him get a job in the agency’s Beloved Community Summer Jobs Program.

Attention youth: Lifespan taking applications now for summer jobs

Lifespan’s youth employment programs are designed to promote career exploration and youth development. The program offers a nine-week paid summer employment experience at a Lifespan hospital or Lifespan Corporate Services to teens 16 to 19 years old. Eligible youth must reside in selected areas: South Providence, Mount Hope and Newport.

See Lifespan's site for info.

El Planeta: Graduados en la practica de la no violencia

Spanish language coverage of our 2007 Beloved Community Summer Jobs Program
Graduation Ceremony.

See page 4 in El Planeta-Providence, 5 Septiembre de 2007 (PDF file)

Providence Journal: Summer jobs can help steer youths away from violence

Sunday, May 13, 2007
By Andy Smith
Journal Staff Writer


PROVIDENCE — The Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence, based in Providence, plans to provide 60 summer jobs for Providence youths as part of its Beloved Community Summer Jobs Program this year, up from 45 jobs last year.

What’s the connection between employment and nonviolence?

P.J. Fox, operations manager for the Institute, said employment is an effective way to reduce violence.

An April 10 letter sent to members of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce asking for support, signed by Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman and Teny Gross, executive director of the institute, said that statistics show July and August are the most dangerous months for a young person in Providence.

Providence Journal: A plea to turn mean streets into a 'beloved community'

Edwatch by Julia Steiny: A plea to turn mean streets into a 'beloved community'

Sunday, July 9, 2006
Providence Journal

According to Teny Gross, "Boston has 11,000 summer jobs for kids. D.C. has 11,000. Providence has maybe 400, and 37 of them are ours."

By "ours," Gross means jobs offered by the agency he directs, the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence. The institute focuses much of its effort on urban youth, and summer is a volatile time for high-energy teens. Gross, the institute's executive director, all but gloats over a report by the Justice Policy Institute that found a direct correlation between unemployment rates and incidents of violent crime and juvenile justice referrals. In short, summer jobs reduce street crime.

Providence Journal: Businesses urged to give jobs to youths

Businesses urged to give jobs to youths, providing alternative to violence
City officials and a group dedicated to nonviolence say meaningful work for youths this summer can curb gang activities.

Thursday, July 6, 2006
Providence Journal

BY LINDA BORG
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Police Chief Dean M. Esserman said the best way an American police chief can protect children is to invest in them, not arrest them.

At a news conference yesterday aimed at hiring teenagers for summer jobs, Esserman, who is recovering from colon cancer, told the gathering that he routinely asks groups of children, "Who loves you?"

Mayor, Chief: Employers can prevent violence with summer jobs

July 5, 2006     For Immediate Release

Contact:
PJ Fox, Operations Manager, Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence (491) 837-2308
Rhoades Alderson, Communications Director, City of Providence (401) 421-2489 ext. 226
                      

MAYOR, CHIEF ESSERMAN, STREET WORKERS ASK EMPLOYERS TO PREVENT YOUTH VIOLENCE WITH SUMMER JOBS

Group calls for direct employment or sponsorship of the “Beloved Community” Summer Jobs Institute; praises Aramark for leadership

PROVIDENCE – Mayor David N. Cicilline, Police Chief Dean Esserman, Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence Executive Director Teny Gross, Aramark General Manager of Education for Providence Tony Malagrino and Providence youth called on the business community to help prevent youth violence this summer by providing summer jobs. The group encouraged employers to sponsor the “Beloved Community” Summer Jobs Institute aimed at curbing violence or to employ at-risk young people directly.

The Institute's summer youth employment program needs your support

The Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence (ISPN) is offering summer employment opportunities to neighborhood youth and we need your help. Through our Beloved Community Summer Program, we supply jobs for 30 young people. So far, we have raised $30,695, enough money to offer our program to 20 youth, and we are asking you and other members of the community to help us find additional funding to reach our goal of 30 participants.