Kevon King is co-owner of the Village Cafe and Lab, located at Union Market in Northeast Washington. The cafe not only serves good food but also buys much of its fresh produce and coffee beans locally. The lab provides space for entrepreneurs to showcase their talents — visual artists, designers and musicians, for instance — and helps them grow their businesses.
Asked how he developed such a generous entrepreneurial spirit, King recalled lessons learned as a teenager enrolled in the Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program back in 2011.
“The most impactful things were the connections I made, especially the mentors that I still have today,” said King, now 27. “I received valuable advice, developed a good work ethic and learned how to conduct myself in a professional work environment.”
And he got paid.
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Now it’s time once again for others to follow in his footsteps. Applications are being accepted for the District’s summer youth employment program, a signature achievement of the late D.C. mayor Marion Barry. The jobs program, now in its 44th year, was started in 1979, during the first of Barry’s four terms as mayor.
He had recognized early on that high youth unemployment during summer months was a fairly accurate predictor of increased juvenile crime and restlessness. His solution: make sure every youngster who wanted to work had a job. By 2015, the program had become a national model and Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, now in her third term, officially named it in Barry’s honor.
With the number of juveniles involved in serious crime on the rise in the city — Bowser has called it an “emergency” — this summer would be an especially good time to ramp up efforts to help youngsters learn life skills and get a toehold on the nation’s economic ladder.
“Today, we’re calling on young people to go to summerjobs.dc.gov and submit their applications,” Bowser said in a recent media release. “We’re also calling on parents and caregivers to ask your teenagers and the young adults in your life if they’ve applied. We also know there are a lot of people in DC who want to help our young people stay engaged in productive activities throughout the summer months. If you are an employer, this is an important opportunity to step up and support a young DC resident.”
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The deadline to apply for the “learn and earn” summer employment program is Feb. 28. D.C. residents ages 14 to 24 are eligible. Top pay (for the older workers) is $17 an hour. Orientation for the program begins on June 26, and the program ends Aug. 4.
This is the first summer since 2019 that the program events will be in person — including a “March Madness” get-together where youths can learn financial skills such as opening a bank account and a career expo in April where they get to meet prospective employers.
Diane Watkins, spokesperson for the D.C. Department of Employment Services, which administers the program, told me that nearly 20,000 youths applied for the program last year and more than 13,000 participated. Asked about the 7,000 who weren’t accepted, Watkins said many simply did not complete the certification process. Several documents are required. Parents can look over the eligibility checklist here.
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You still have 21 days to get it together.
Watkins noted that 56 percent of last year’s participants were residents of Wards 7 and 8. That ought not be surprising; the youngsters really do want to work, contrary to persistent stereotypes. Moreover, consider the job categories that interest them the most, according to Watkins: health care, animal care, child care and information technology.
“We have good employer representation from the financial sector, from the nonprofits, communications and the entertainment industry,” Watkins said. “But we love to have more in areas that will be growing in the next five, 10, 20 years.”
And that would be in infrastructure and the caring industry — whether it’s caring for the elderly or the young; humans or furry four-footers. Interested employers should go to the same jobs website and heed the call.
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Kevon King was just 14, a student at what was then Wilson High School and since renamed Jackson-Reed. He was hired by the college preparatory program Upward Bound at the University of the District of Columbia. He was rehired for three summers — going on tours of college campuses, participating in Saturday college classes, getting mentoring and guidance on how to connect with people in exciting new environments.
Having grown up in Ward 7, King began to see the District in a new light. There was more to life than what he had been accustomed to. And all you needed was guidance and opportunity to experience it.
But he didn’t stop there. Now he, along with partners Lauren Coles and Mahammad Mangum, have made the Village Cafe a participant in the summer employment program.
They’ll be rehiring two youngsters this summer — Jessica Smith and Eric Curry III.
“Just paying it forward,” King said.
Everybody wins.
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