Meet Stephan

I focus a great deal on workforce development, whether that be soft skills training, certification training, or internship placement. Each day there are numerous hours of paperwork and emails for me, followed by phone calls with our participants and vendors. When I am not performing participant-based tasks, I am assisting and sometimes supervising other YDE youth initiatives/ programs. The most challenging part of my job is dealing with the mindset of the youth. Growing up in the 21st century isn't easy. Pre-teens go through so much while transitioning into teen years, they find themselves facing many troubling challenges. Within my field, these challenges can very easily create roadblocks that could hinder the process of career development. 

Career preparation is essential in order to form and develop aspirations and to make informed choices about careers. Students learn Self-exploration skills that enable them to identify interests, skills, and values. With this newly learned skill, youth will become more confident enough to identify and understand how and why various career options match their interests, skills, and work preferences.

As young adults become more independent and begin to focus on the future, they will look for opportunities to explore interests, skills, and career paths. Identifying career and other future goals can motivate young adults to make healthy, positive choices here and now. Young adults can be helped with this exploration by helping them acquire work readiness skills and connecting them to high-quality mentoring relationships, which will help nurture a strong transition process between the school and the workplace.

An essential attribute for success is best described by Kevin Durant:

“Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.”

Hard work, dedication, and ambition are major keys to success. Regardless of any job/career you want to be a part of, only the ones who are willing to work hard are prepared for the tough times that you must go through for anything that you desire. Only a select few with great will, desire, and the ability to fight will ever succeed. People are always quick to tell you about what their success is and what it feels like to have it. But they never explain to you the long process it took to achieve that success. The sweat and tears behind the smile of success.

Documenting History

Artist Rusty Zimmerman has been painting community members, including our beloved 102-year-old Rita, as part of our Portrait Project. The Fulton Center, where the sittings take place, is also the home for our vaccine center, where many of the participants were vaccinated. When complete, not only will the paintings provide a snapshot of our community, they will also serve as a document of this important moment in time. You can see some of the other portraits on Instagram @rustyzimms or http://freeportraitproject.org/. Thank you Rusty for helping us document this great moment.

This Month's Buzz

Hudson Guild Performing ArtWorks! presents A CIRCUS AND DANCE SPECTACULAR on June 23rd at 6:00 pm at The Elliott Center Patio. This free, live, in-person event will be a 50-minute performance featuring circus acts by the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus and dancers from the Matthew Westerby Company, performing an excerpt from The Piers Project, a new work in development. We look forward to seeing you again!

Currently Enrolling for July Free or reduced-cost preschool for 2021-2022 school at Year Five West Side school locations for 2, 3, and 4-year-olds. For more information, email abair@hudsonguild.org

Free COVID-19 vaccines are available for all over age 16. No appointments are necessary. Just walk in. Second doses of the Pfizer vaccine also available. Must present your vaccination card with first dose information. Available at the Fulton Community Center 119 9th Ave, New York, NY 10001 (between 17th and 18th Street), Tuesday - Saturday from 10 am - 4:30 pm. All you need is a photo ID.

Events

June 4 - Talent Jam! premiering at 8:00 pm here.

June 23- A CIRCUS AND DANCE SPECTACULAR at 6:00 pm at the Elliott Center Patio

Jobs

To view all jobs, please visit hudsonguild.bamboohr.com/jobs.