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Show A community newspaper serving residents and businesses on the west side of Salt Lake City Issue No. 18 MARCH 2005 Young “Community Builders” Graduate from Construction Employment Training Course By Melissa Sillitoe It was a chilly afternoon, but the packed crowd warmed the concrete garage built by the latest high school students to graduate from Salt Lake Neighborhood Housing Service’s YouthWorks program. On February 16, friends and families of these determined west side teens gathered at a site near the SLNHS office (622 West 500 North) to celebrate their suc- cess, The graduates were: Busciano, Hetrickson Chris Willie, Raya Wall, Chris Allred, Sarith Ren, Sareth Ren, Eric Johnson, Romal Khair, and Willie Green. The YouthWorks graduates celebrated the completion of a rigorous 4-month employment training construction course. The program serves at-risk youth, ages 14-18, providing young people with a positive experience through paid employment training and a sense of significance in the community. Youth are hired as “Community Builders” to participate in projects that revitalize the target neighborhood. YouthWorks requires school attendance and _ performance while developing a strong work ethic and life skill development. Site Supervisor and west side resident Billy Palmer—a former YouthWorks graduate—became emotional as he presented the certificates to his apprentices and said a few words about each of them. “I spent every day with these guys. We had really good days and bad days. You build up to this exciting moment, trying to get the job done, then gradu- ation day comes, and it’s you’re used to seeing these every day.” He summed up what the uates knew: “This is more just a garage, this is hard built with their own hands. places they pick their hard, kids gradthan work Most friends, but here they learn to work with people they would not normally hang out with to get the job done. Lots of love and hard work went into this.” Student speakers explained to their audience what it meant to them to have had this teambuilding experience, Hetrickson Willie, 16, believes this will give him the confidence to tackle West Side youth learn Neighborhood Housing how to build a garage through YouthWorks, Services. Photo by Marisol Garza with me for life.” Wall has been accepted to the prestigious Smith College. ing completing his studies at Horizonte High. “Now I can build anything I want pretty much with Palmer and Marisol Garza (Youthworks Development Director) for mentoring them and encouraging them not to see race or age as a barrier to success. “A lot of us were not sure we could do this,” she commented. “Just General Mark Shurtleff urged the graduates to never forget what they learned about hard work. studs and trusses, even my because “Don’t harder jobs in the future, includ- paint shop,” he said. Raya Wall praised own Billy you’re low-income or a minority doesn’t matter. No excuses. What I learn will stay Keynote let speaker each Attorney other down, you’re a team...there are kids who look up to you now. Don’t a program developed by ever let them say, ‘say it ain’t so' when you screw up.” He spoke of his own experience in construction and how gratifying that has been to him. “No matter what else I’ve achieved, I still tell my kids when I see [something I helped construct], hey I built that. There’s nothing like it,” he said. Utah Power Employees Volunteer to Deliver Meals to Rose Park Seniors By Norma Hendrickson Utah Power’s presence near North Temple and Redwood Road is hard to miss. The towering smoke stacks are familiar features on the northwestern skyline. People know that the company sends crews, equipment and linemen out into the community. What they might not know is that it also sends out a number of volunteer crews to serve west side neighborhoods in a variety of ways. These volunteer crews have the complete support of Utah Power and its parent company, PacifiCorp. Their service ranges from mentoring local teens to painting area homes. Perhaps the most sustained service 1s one provided by a dedicated crew from the North Temple office who has been delivering meals to neighborhood residents every weekday for over seven years. By using volunteers and saving the cost of paid drivers, Salt Lake County’s Aging Services stretches its funds to serve more residents who need its Meals on Wheels service. Marilyn Heaton and Meals on Wheels. Gretchen Erickson prepare to make Photo by Clyde Hendrickson a Junch-hour run for Marilyn Healy, an administrative assis- tant in the engineering department, literally drives the program and makes it work. Healy and three other volunteers, Dan Boyd, Mark Terry and Richard Goff, grew up in the area. She lived on Sonata Street and says it feels like coming home to drive around the neighborhood. When asked how she got involved, she laughs and says, “I swear, my name just travels around here. People fear me, so they volunteer.” Healy recruited some of the original volunteers from a morning stretch group she led back then. Over the years the faces have changed, but the Meals on Wheels group runs like clockwork. There are two groups of eight employees who deliver meals in their own vehicles one day a week, every other month. Healy often serves as a backup during the summer and on Fridays when many others are on vacation. Employees pair up and use most of their lunch hour to deliver nutritious meals to about seven homes. The meals are delivered to the company’s front security desk where that day’s twosome picks them up and transfers the insulated containers to their private vehicles for delivery. The meals are nutritious, consistent and See Meals on page 2 |
