By Angela Penny, KALW Crosscurrents
In 2012, President Barack Obama called upon mayors across the country to create jobs for youth in their cities. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee listened.
At a subsequent press conference, Lee said, “When President Obama challenged the nation to join him in a national campaign to produce jobs for our young people, I said, ‘San Francisco must step up.’ ”
It’s hard for San Franciscans between the ages of 16 and 24 to get a job. They suffer an unemployment rate around 18 percent nationwide, and it’s nearly twice has high here in San Francisco. This despite a budget of $15 million for youth workforce development.
So when Mayor Lee announced the creation of San Francisco Summer Jobs+ to create more than 5,000 jobs, with a focus on at-risk and disconnected youth, it made an impression, so much so that that program is set to become year round.
Read the complete story at KALW Crosscurrents.
