Emerson, one of the region’s largest companies, is donating $4.4 million to fund scholarships and youth employment efforts for residents in north St. Louis County and Ferguson, where its headquarters is based.
“Ferguson is our home and has been for the last 70 years,” Farr said in a statement. “We choose to be here and are committed to this community, especially now in its increased time of need. We believe in hope and opportunity and want to help remove barriers so that more of our neighbors can succeed.”
Emerson also is donating $750,000 to fund youth employment efforts through MERS/Goodwill Industries and the STL Youth Jobs program. Emerson’s funding will sponsor 100 jobs for teenagers and young adults aged 16 to 23 in the Ferguson area.
Dejah Cox tends to Sweet Sensations bee hives that are located on a vacant lot in north St. Louis (photo: Tim Lloyd / St. Louis Public Radio)
At only 15 years old, Dejah is president of Sweet Sensations, an entrepreneurship program run by Northside Community Housing, Inc. Built on top of tried and true hands-on and project-based learning styles, Sweet Sensations plugs into a growing interest to teach business basics in real-world settings.
“The idea was that the youth would learn how to run the business, and that they would actually run it,” said Phil Minden, who helped found the program. “That’s exactly what’s happening.”
The six students in the program, two of whom are part of the STL Youth Jobs Program, are paid $10 an hour and can create matched college savings accounts.
Listen to the story (3:52):
It’s that time of year again when young people are pounding the pavement looking for summer jobs. For the second consecutive year, the city of St. Louis is offering people who range from sixteen to twenty-three years of age employment opportunities through a program called STL Youth Jobs.