There are many elements in the 2020 plan to tackle poverty in south St. Petersburg over the next five years. Several are extremely ambitious and others, such as a goal to add 200 jobs for at-risk youth in 2015, appear seemingly more modest in scope.
The "200 in 2015" campaign formally kicked off this morning at the Mt. Zion Progressive MB Church in Midtown, featuring Mayor Rick Kriseman, City Councilman Wengay Newton, and a host of program "partners," including officials with the Urban League, the Pinellas Opportunity Council and others.
"Too many people are struggling," Kriseman said in his prepared remarks to kick off the 45-minute news conference, where he read off a list of desultory statistics to state the economic reality on the South Side right now."One out of every five residents in south St. Petersburg is unemployed, one out of every four is at or below poverty. Property values have dropped 42 percent since the onset of the Great Recession, and this is happening right here in St. Petersburg, and it is unacceptable, given Midtown's rich history."
"The numbers are relatively small," acknowledged Gypsy Gallardo about the goal of adding 200 youth jobs in 2015. One of the main architects of the plan, Gallardo said the key thing is that they're targeting low-income opportunities for teens and young adults "who are in home environments where they're not learning." She says a goal is to help these youth learn a work ethic and build networks of relationships.
Gallardo says youth unemployment in Midtown is at 35.5 percent, and would be over 46 percent if local groups hadn't already played an active role in hiring young people. She said some of the 200 jobs would be of the minimum wage variety at fast food or other restaurants in the community, as well as what she called "sheltered community service employment" opportunities. Currently she said there are approximately 3,600 African-Americans employed by the city overall.
The recent budget approved by the City Council added $25,000 for summer youth employment programs (bringing that total amount to $275,000), and approved $50,000 for after-school jobs. Councilman Newton said those three hours after school are crucial, as that's the time when unsupervised youth "can get into something, or something can happen to them."
Gallardo said the drive to hire 200 at-risk youth on the South Side is already underway, and says that representatives from some companies have said they had a slot or two that they could commit to the 20/20 plan to get to that 200 number. "We believe through small and large contributions from here and here, engaging our corporate community (and) our nonprofit community ... I believe with full faith that we can reach this goal."
There are many other facets of the plan going forward in the coming weeks and months. Next Friday, the 2020 Pilot Family Wrap Around Program funded by the city and implemented by the Urban League, will complete its program. That's to help bridge 24 parents "onto the pathway out of poverty."
And in January. a report assembled by a 20/20 research team that is being touted as the largest body of data ever gathered on life and outcomes of people in south St. Pete will be released.
