Summer Training and Enrichment Program (STEP), a component of the City of Newport News’ Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Initiative, is still accepting applications from area businesses for worksite partnerships.
Through STEP, young people ages 16 to 24 spend ten weeks over the summer with partner businesses to gain valuable work experience. Participants receive a weekly stipend paid entirely by the Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Initiative and
there is no cost to the business. Companies and organizations throughout Hampton Roads that would like to provide summer opportunities to STEP participants may register online at
http://ygvpinn.nnva.gov until May 11th.
“We are fortunate to have doubled the number of STEP participants this year to over 600! Now we need businesses and organizations to ‘step’ up to the plate,” said Mayor McKinley Price. “This is a wonderful opportunity to expose our youth to the world of work and I encourage companies in Newport News and the surrounding areas to partner with us to provide worksites for our STEP participants.”
Last year, the program partnered with 64 area businesses and organizations to serve 316 youth and young adults who worked a total of 72,758 hours and earned $594,721.This year the program will accommodate more t
h
an 600 participants. The City of Newport News hopes that businesses from a variety of industries will partner offering training in both traditional and non-traditional occupations.
WAVY News 10 recently aired a special report on Gang Violence in Hampton Roads featuring the Newport News Police Department and Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Coordinator MaRhonda Echols who discussed the city’s current efforts to end gang violence.
View the WAVY News 10 special report.
For more information about the STEP program and to get involved, contact MaRhonda Echols, Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Coordinator, at 757-926-3678 or
mechols@nnva.gov or visit
http://ygvpinn.nnva.gov.