(COLUMBIA, MO) -
Trainees from the City of Columbia's Career Awareness Related Experience (C.A.R.E.) program, their families, work site mentors, the public, and media are invited to attend the 2015 C.A.R.E. End of Summer Program Reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 6. A program/awards presentation will begin at 5:30 p.m. The reception will take place at the ARC (1701 West Ash) to celebrate the end of another successful summer program.
Each summer, C.A.R.E. work site mentors and summer job coaches nominate their trainees for two separate awards. C.A.R.E. job coaches choose one winner for each award from his/her caseload. The awards are called the Wynna Faye Elbert Outstanding C.A.R.E. Trainee Award and the Almeta Crayton Tenacious Spirit Award. Elbert and Crayton played prominent roles in the development and continuation of the C.A.R.E. Program.
The City of Columbia's Career Awareness Related Experience (C.A.R.E.) Program, which began in 1982, is a comprehensive program for Columbia's at-risk youth that provides:
- paid real-world hands-on work experience
- mentoring
- career exploration
- life skills training
The C.A.R.E. Program works with at-risk 14- to 20-year-olds who live in the City of Columbia, MO and/or attend a Columbia, MO school. High-risk teenagers face many barriers to joining the labor force.
C.A.R.E.'s goal is for "Columbia's youth to be ready to enter the workforce and become productive, self-sufficient citizens." Lack of employment experience, positive adult role models, career exposure, and life skills training can lead to adolescents being unemployed and/or underemployed, which can lead to increased:
- truancy and high school dropout rates
- emotional problems
- crime
- adolescent pregnancy
- alcoholism/drug addiction
- dependence upon government assistance
The C.A.R.E. program is administered through the Parks and Recreation Department. For more information, please visit www.gocolumbiamo.com (search CARE).
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