The E-Program and Erica's Story will be featured in The Tow Foundation's annual brochure for 2010. The E-Program is funded in part by The Tow Foundation. Their support for the last 3 years has helped this highly successful after-school program to continue to build vocational, business and leadership skills while developing a strong sense of character in youth.

 

"I have gone from a person who was lost – really lost – to one who is confident that I can do anything I set my mind to!”`Erica

 

Erica's Story...Looking To The Future

Erica never dreamed she would be planning for her future. In fact, she never gave the future much thought at all. School was not a priority and getting grades that were sufficient enough to get by was just fine with her. The thought of preparing for a career seemed like something that was available to “other people”. It was something she felt she did not have control over nor did she wish to disappoint herself in attempting to achieve a goal that seemed so completely out of her reach. Instead of dreaming, she would resign herself to getting a job after high school, perhaps at the mall, and finding her way somehow. That all changed when 15 year old Erica was invited to participate in a youth employment program at Waterbury Youth Services.

 

Erica, along with several other students under the direction of Entrepreneurial Program (E-Program) Director Mike Crane, was charged with creating a hands on mini classroom at the Agency where participants would be instructed on how to prepare and repair sheet rock, paint, use sanders, hand tools, and do light electrical and plumbing repairs. A series of mocked up frames called learning walls were developed to give the students practical “life skills” and a focus on employment choices at the end of the program. For the first time that she can recall, Erica had a voice in determining something of real consequence.

 

As the E-Program emerged, so in very significant ways did Erica. She discovered a love of working with her hands, significantly improved her grades in high school, and began attending The Industrial and Maintenance Training Institute’s HVAC program. Feeling powerless is now as unfamiliar to Erica as the person she was a few years ago. Her determination for a productive and self directed future was developed through the firm, but fair accountability and reward system that Mike has developed with the students. “Mike taught me how to conduct myself with people. He has shown me a loyalty and trust that was built on positive rewards. I have gone from a person who was lost – really lost – to one who is confident that I can do anything I set my mind to!”