Thanks to $53 million in ARRA funding, 16,700 Illinois youth completed true apprenticeships this summer in career pathways in our nation’s growth industries: green building; sustainable agriculture; trades such as plumbing, welding, carpentry, and masonry; customer service; and small business management. DCEO's 26 Workforce Investment Act agencies worked in concert with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Central Management Services (CMS), and Department of Agriculture (DoA).Thanks to $53 million in ARRA funding, 16,700 Illinois youth completed true apprenticeships this summer in career pathways in our nation’s growth industries: green building; sustainable agriculture; trades such as plumbing, welding, carpentry, and masonry; customer service; and small business management. DCEO's 26 Workforce Investment Act agencies worked in concert with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Central Management Services (CMS), and Department of Agriculture (DoA).

Many youths also worked in the field of conservation and historic site maintenance, including a crew at Johnson Sauk Trail Park. With little-to-no work experience, the youth had to learn how to work together and how to handle tools safely. And they needed a leader. Dusty Hill of Sherrard was severely wounded in Iraq, losing both hands and sustaining multiple burns. Because of his wounds, he could not go back to his former occupation as a carpenter. The Workforce Development Board of Rock Island, Henry and Mercer Counties, Inc.  (LWIA 13) asked this natural born leader to take on the youth crew. “The harder you work, the better the  reward you receive," says Dusty. The youth bonded with Dusty and consider him a role model. Despite bad weather, broken tools, and a bad poison ivy outbreak, the crew accomplished all of their work at the Park. 

At the Center for Children’s Services in Danville, the average work readiness score of their youth participants rose 17 percentage points by the end of the summer. One of the major projects was the construction and management of an outdoor café. Youth learned how to build it with hot and cold running water, sewage run-off, electricity, refrigeration/freezers, as well as food preparation, cashier, and customer service stations. Youth learned about the service industry and food preparation, serving approximately 200 lunches each day from June 15 to July 31.  As Café “business partners,” youth utilized the Robert Rules of Order to manage the restaurant and settle personnel issues. The Café project culminated in a sophisticated evening event where 300 guests were served. A youth landscaping crew also managed the gardens around the Cafe.

Thanks to ARRA, some projects are being extended up to March 31, 2010.