Goodwill’s Summer Youth Program Celebrates Graduation!

Thursday, July 24th marked the official “graduation day” for many of the students involved in the six week Summer Youth program hosted by Ohio Valley Goodwill. The Summer Youth program is  sponsored by Goodwill  in partnership with Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD) formerly known as the Rehabilitation Services Commission and the Bridges program.  A large cake, lots of smiles and appropriate Goodwill souvenirs marked the occasion as the students celebrated the Youth program completion with their coaches. “It’s been a great summer,” said Ranaye Hampton, Community Program Supervisor. “We are very pleased that the students enjoyed their employment-oriented experiences and are now more prepared for the world of work following graduation from high school.”

This is the second year that Ohio Valley Goodwill has hosted and coordinated the intensive program which helps students to learn about the world of work through community-based try-outs, employer interviews and independent research. “We are extremely interested in doing what we can to help these students become successful in their futures,” said Hampton. “Goodwill’s mission for almost 100 years is about helping people go to work and achieve personal success and the Summer Youth program is just one more way of supporting those goals.”

Last year, Ohio Valley Goodwill served more than 3100 individuals and helped 947 to obtain employment in the local community. The organization has a long-standing history of helping people with disabilities and our nation’s veterans to become productive, tax-paying, contributing members of the Greater Cincinnati community and prides itself on its ever-expanding efforts to meet the needs of its citizens.

For more information about the organization’s programs and services, visit www.cincinnatigoodwill.org/services. Ohio Valley Goodwill congratulates the students of the 2014 Summer Youth program and wishes them luck in their individual futures.