Way to Work in Wichita Kansas

The City of Wichita’s Housing Authority won a 2020 Award of Excellence in Resident and Client Services for their summer program, Helping Youth Prepare for Employment. Nominated from among the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials Award of Merit winners each year, the Awards of Excellence winners are chosen by national juries and honored at the annual National Conference and Exhibition in November. They represent the very best in innovative programs in assisted housing and community development.    

WHA collaborated with four local groups to establish the Helping Youth Prepare for Employment program. The collaborative goal, according to HYPE’s website, is to educate youth in business practices within a classroom setting and assist them in finding employment. Program Manager Na’shell Williams describes the initiative as “a program for 14 to 17-year-olds to provide enrichment and to focus on helping them with job skills.”  

Last year, HYPE served 3,252 area youth with 1,210 finding employment with over 200 employers. Total wages earned by HYPE participants topped  $1.4 million. 

The HYPE program offers a variety of ways to meet its goals. One of the programs under its umbrella is The Way to Work program. Williams says the summer program teaches high school-aged students how to interview for jobs, how to manage money, and how to be responsible for time commitments.  

“What we have noticed is our young people do not know how to interview or how to properly dress for a job,” Williams said.  

The program works by providing each participant with classroom hours during the week aimed at teaching different lessons on how to prepare for employment. During the remainder of the week, participants work at a variety of different jobs in Wichita. Williams notes that there aren’t a lot of activities that fit the needs for this age group, “so this keeps them involved in something productive over the summer.”  

Each summer the program is run, students get placed to work with a local business that interests them. Williams said over the years they have had students placed in about every type of industry, including restaurants, gyms, law firms, transit companies and the parks and recreation department.  

WHA continues to build relationships with businesses in the community to explain the program and get more participation from employers seeking to hire help for the summer. Students commit to working 20 hours a week in addition to attending a course provided by WHA on enhancing their job skills. 

“The businesses are our supervisors, and they have to check with us to make sure students are arriving on time,” Williams said. “We hire three educators who are teachers throughout the summer to teach the preparedness course.”  

Williams said this last year more than 100 students participated, and the goal is to serve 225 students in 2021. All participants who completed the program this year received laptops to allow them to further their skills and prepare for college. Williams says sometimes older students who complete the program are later offered full- time jobs. She’s aware of at least one 18-year-old this summer who worked for the city’s transit system and was hired back as an employee.  

“The kids all say they enjoyed the hands-on experience and grow into new skills,” Willams said. 

She said because of the commitment required for the program, students who want to apply must first submit an application and go through a pre-interview process. This helps the program’s staff also identify which business looking for employees might best suit the student applying. WHA also gives each student a city bus pass to assist them in getting to and from their job. As interest grows for the program, Willams is hopeful HYPE and TWTW will expand and continue to serve the local youth.