Young Adult Opportunity Program Spotlight

A conversation with Program Director Aldith Campbell

Q: What are the goals of our Young Adult Program?

A: WSM’s Young Adult Opportunity Program is designed to work with young people, ages 16-24, to obtain employment and training in fields that can lead to long term careers with benefits and self-sustenance. The Young Adult Program’s main goals are employment and training; however, the program also provides support services to assist Montgomery County youth in overcoming barriers that may keep them from becoming gainfully employed and stable. Our program also works with community leaders and business owners to help mentor the young adults into becoming responsible leaders themselves.

Q: What new initiative are you most excited about?

A: In October, we launched our first Monthly Mingle event. This event is designed to introduce county youth to community leaders and to help teach the necessary skills they need to interact in a professional environment. It also offers exposure to the available training the program has to offer. These trainings could lead to many different career pathways as opposed to a temporary job.

Monthly Mingle allows the youth to get to know established professionals and also allows them to network with their peers. Young people have an opportunity to share their own success stories and offer inspiration and guidance to each other.

We are happy to announce that during November’s Monthly Mingle event, we partnered with The Montgomery County Fire Department and Manna Foods to give the youth an opportunity to have a meaningful Thanksgiving. We served our young people a warm meal and handed out over 40 food baskets.

Q:What new initiatives can we look forward to?

A: We are now in the process of starting a new work readiness workshop designed to focus on soft skills that will help the customers to smoothly navigate the world of work. It will be a refresher workshop that allows the young adults, who have started unsubsidized employment or training, to learn how to handle themselves in an office environment and in training class, so that they can continue to be successful even after they leave the program. Customers will be able to walk through our doors on Fridays and attend a workshop that is designed to provide continued support as they continue to learn the world of work and responsibility for themselves.

Q: How can the community connect with the program?

A: The Young Adult program has a new Facebook group! You can find the group linked directly to WSM’s Facebook page by searching WorkSource Montgomery. We will be adding events, striking up discussions, sharing success stories and posting new opportunities.

Our youth program is located in Silver Spring at 801 Roeder Road, Ste. 575. Phone: 443-808-1021