Luis Garcia, Jr. wants to be the person he wished he had in his life when he was young. Growing up, the 28-year-old was bullied and often felt alone in dealing with the challenges he faced in North Chicago. That all changed when he participated in an after-school program in eighth grade, where he connected with adult mentors who assured him he had a promising future.
“To this day, I remember a lot about how amazing they were,” says Garcia. “Because of them, I’m here.”
Today, Garcia is a youth program coordinator for The Community Works — a nonprofit in Waukegan, Illinois, that helps young people build job skills — and an apprentice under FHI 360’s Youth Development Practitioner Apprenticeship (YDPA) program.
On-the-job learning
Apprenticeships are effective on-the-job learning opportunities for many job seekers — a debt-free model that benefits both apprentice and employer. Unlike traditional apprenticeships for trades like carpentry, FHI 360’s YDPA program is designed for people seeking a career working with young people.
The program, in partnership with the Lake County Workforce Board, also offered apprentices an opportunity to break patterns of trauma and heal from the past.
“I wasn’t able to grow up having a mentor or somebody there to help me out, so I’m going to be that person [for others],” says Jenessa Armstrong, a YDPA apprentice.
Armstrong works as a front-of-house manager and trainer for Curt’s Café, a nonprofit in Evanston and Highland Park, Illinois, that provides employment and training in food service and life skills for young people who are unhoused or involved in the justice system.
Employer partners like Curt’s Café and The Community Works are essential to the YDPA program, providing apprentices the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned. Apprentices also receive training from FHI 360’s National Institute of Work and Learning (NIWL), which equips them with skills like coaching and case management. When they graduate, YDPA participants receive a nationally recognized credential from the U.S. Department of Labor.
“My dream job is to be a counselor in the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice,” says Armstrong. “The credential will help me a lot.”
Through Curt’s Café’s work release program, she has connected with the department and with young people who are involved with the court system.
“It’s such a vicious cycle,” she says. “They get incarcerated, they come out, they go back in. I want to be able to say that I helped prevent that cycle.”
Youth voices and safe spaces
Through YDPA, Armstrong has learned how to de-escalate conflicts. Many trainees, she explains, are under tremendous stress and may lash out. In the past, the café handled these situations by sending trainees home. Armstrong takes a different approach, building closer relationships with each person in the program to better understand their points of view.
One woman reminded Armstrong of herself at a younger age — distant and independent. Armstrong was patient, giving her a safe space to be herself. Over time, Armstrong’s efforts were a success.
“It’s a whole 180-degree switch,” she says. “Now, she’s coming up to me, she’s talking to me, and she enjoys working with me and doing trainings together.”
Garcia had a similar experience. He was able to connect with two reserved twins who participated in The Community Works’ summer internship program.
“They come from a very troubled household,” he says. “They didn’t talk, they didn’t react, they didn’t do anything. They just stared at their phones.”
Garcia motivated them, joked around with them, and got to know them. He became the person he wanted in his corner growing up — and it worked.
“Within a couple weeks, they started to joke around,” says Garcia. “They started smiling. I talked to the dean of their high school and found out their grades have gone up. They’re two completely different people.”
Learning how to change lives
Armstrong and Garcia will soon be among the first graduates of FHI 360’s YDPA program. Armstrong plans to go back to school to pursue her dream of becoming a youth justice counselor; she intends to use her credential as testament to the work she’s already done with young people. Garcia also plans to continue working in the youth development field.
“To me, that’s the biggest message with this apprenticeship,” he says. “This is the perfect way to learn how to change lives.”
The YDPA program will continue through the Promising Leaders Apprenticing in the Care Economy (PLACE) Hub program, which will expand registered apprenticeship programs focusing on care economy roles in the U.S. through the Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Building America grant.
