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August 27, 2008

Bed Stuy Program for Teens and Brownstoners

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Barnabus Shakur was "raised amongst gangs, drugs, violence and other struggles associated with economically disadvantaged communities," according to his own biography. And when a 19-year-old buddy received a life sentence, Shakur decided to harness his life and send it in another direction, helping other kids in Bedford-Stuyvesant to stay away from those gangs, drugs and violence through his non-profit, Project Re-Generation. He's gathered an army of such kids, turning them into Foot Soldiers, his name for a teen job training program that has kids "remove litter, leaves, snow, weeds, and trash from your front yard, stairway, and sidewalk" in exchange for a few bucks a week. Yes, they'll do the backyard, too, if you have one. The kids can earn community service hours for high school credits and they take money management workshops, so they don't spend their stipends all in one place.




Posted by lisa at 9:34 AM | Comments (29)
Categories: Quality of Life

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do they wear chuck taylors?

Posted by: claudegueux at August 27, 2008 9:52 AM

I see this young men and women often in the neighborhood working very hard. These youth I am very proud of and I know they well be great adult citizens in the future. Good for them... I am going to support them as much as I can...

Posted by: Amzi Hill at August 27, 2008 9:55 AM

Great program. great kids. I wonder if the will come to Crown Heights, not that far?

Posted by: lurker in the mist at August 27, 2008 10:05 AM

This is awesome. My heart goes out to them. I hope they find satisfaction in their labor and prosper in life. Now, what can we do to help/join/encourage?

Posted by: stoep2conquer at August 27, 2008 10:06 AM

Me too.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at August 27, 2008 10:06 AM

I love this idea. If they want to establish a foothold in Clinton Hill, I'd be happy to work with these kids.

Posted by: Stonergut at August 27, 2008 10:07 AM


A worthy effort, to be sure.

Posted by: East New York at August 27, 2008 10:09 AM

i'd hate to see these kids acculturated as janitors. this is something, which is wonderful, but please, can't we do better?

Posted by: chime at August 27, 2008 10:10 AM

They will come to Crown Heights, at least most parts of Crown Heights North. I plan to support them, as well.

Good work habits learned in this program can lead to so many opportunities, including discipline for academic endeavors. Who knows, a kid can be working for someone who turns out to be the connection to a scholarship, a job, or the inspiration for a whole new direction in life. We have all benefited from connections often casually made in life, the key is in leaving one's comfort zone to meet new people. This program is a good thing for the kids and the communities they serve.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at August 27, 2008 10:17 AM

chime, I understand your concern. But before I became a high-powered g-man, I mopped floors, washed dishes, cleaned bathrooms and whole bunch of other stuff that taught me to show up on time and get the job done. None of those jobs "acculturated" me to a lifetime of menial labor. If anything, the jobs gave me incentive to aspire to more.

Posted by: g man at August 27, 2008 10:21 AM

Chime,

The best and most honest work is physical labor. It has done wonders for my soul and sense of self worth. It grounds you with a sense of humility which fosters an appreciation of those who do more complex jobs. I see no danger of "acculturation" particularly. There is no such janitorial culture. work is work.

Posted by: stoep2conquer at August 27, 2008 10:23 AM


Same here, G-Man. Like you, I literally "worked" my way to the top. And there's NOTHING wrong with taking a few "grunt" jobs on the way to success. Absolutely nothing.

Posted by: East New York at August 27, 2008 10:26 AM

it's kind of silly to suggest they're being "acculturated as janitors"? did you ever do chores at home for an allowance? ever babysit for the neighbor's kids? does that mean your parents were "acculturating" you as a dishwasher or nanny? this program is helping teenagers to learn the value of work and money management at least, and probably a lot of other things, too. not everyone has the connections required to get a schoolkid a no-work internship at a magazine or lawyer's office, and not everyone agrees that those "jobs" are better than these for teenagers. MM is right - I bet these kids learn a lot more starting out with an organization like this.

Posted by: i disagree at August 27, 2008 10:27 AM

the discipline that work requires can carry over into other areas of your life. Janitorial culture? What, like getting to work on time? Doing a good job? Being polite? Our janitor is all of those things, so that would be a great foundation to give these kids.

Considering all of the bad press kids have been getting lately, it is good to see that some of them are making positive choices that help the community, and help themselves.

Posted by: Guvna at August 27, 2008 10:30 AM

stoep@conquer - physical work also gives the satisfaction of seeing some tangible results at the end of the day, as opposed to the more elusive results of e.g. office work. Its not a bad place to start, and I'm sure many on here did start there. I know I did, in a grocers carrying fruits and veg around and cleaning up the rotten spill. Those 55lbs bags of potatoes were a killer when I was a scrawny 16yr old.

Posted by: dittoburg at August 27, 2008 10:31 AM

This is such an uplifting story. Thanks for sharing it, Lisa. I appreciate the efforts of every one of these beautiful people. What a wonderful way for them to feel involved in and part of the community and meet other special individuals and what a wonderful way to remind the rest of us the youth are our future and there is hope for all of us.

Posted by: Biff Champion at August 27, 2008 10:35 AM

I worked in a hospital on the surgical ward. Tough stuff for a 17 year old but the lessons you learn... I'm hoping to convince my landlady to give them a call.

MM- your name is being mentioned on the Dean St. thread. Someone needs information over there.

Posted by: bxgrl at August 27, 2008 10:43 AM

It would be nice if this program could team some of these kids up with people in the neighborhoods in which they work to be mentors/tutors too. And these kids do need toknow that most of us -- who may look to them to be entiteled -- worked really bad jobs for minimum wages or less. Too many people think their kids should have to do take dirty jobs. Well, we all have.

Posted by: BH76 at August 27, 2008 10:52 AM

I shoveled snow, cut lawns delivered newspapers and worked as a janitor in high school. All of this is good manual labor. At the very least it'll give them some experience in how to deal with people and what to do with their money.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at August 27, 2008 11:03 AM

Had no connections and did no manual labor growing up but I still learned the importance of working hard and commitment.

Posted by: moreteasir at August 27, 2008 11:31 AM

Wow...16 comments in under an hour...how wonderful! Thank you all for your kind thoughts...Chime thank you for your objective feedback. All those after Chime...lol...Thank you for your defense!
How to get involved!
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1. Homeowners in Bed-Stuy and some areas of Crown Heights and Clinton Hills we look forward to working with you, visit the following link:
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http://www.pr-g.org/what_we_do/foot_soldiers/about_foot_soldiers.html
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2. Anyone can attend our Celebration in November 08' at the Sheraton Midtown Manhattan, Featuring - The Best of Broadway opening with the Hit Band from Movin' Out. more info at:
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http://www.pr-g.org/investors/how_to_invest.html

Posted by: barnabasshakur at August 27, 2008 11:36 AM

Camoflague? seriously... whats the deal?

Posted by: lionballs at August 27, 2008 11:48 AM

Barnabasshkur,

Perhaps you can use the following link as a referral for your kids if they feel ready to move on to something else when they are done with your project: http://www.exaltyouth.org/

Best of luck.

Posted by: chime at August 27, 2008 11:52 AM

Did cleaning up in a Holiday Inn one summer to pay for school. Awful job but no choice. The smell of industrial soap still turns my stomach.

I hope all of us make an effort to help this program grow. I liked the tutor/mentor idea although I saw something that seems to be like that on the web site I think. Still- a nice brownstoner thread.

Posted by: lurker in the mist at August 27, 2008 11:54 AM

My worst job was at a garbage "transfer station". There was a big hole in the ground with a mechanical chomper at the bottom of it. The garbage trucks would come in and try to empty their loads down the hole. Every time one missed I had to shovel the cr#p down the hole manually.

Phewy.

And there was the time I worked in an industrial cold store in the middle of winter in the middle of the worst cold I ever had lifting crates of yoghurt around.

The exaltyouth looks like a good step 2.

Posted by: dittoburg at August 27, 2008 12:07 PM

You're going to trust these kids in your backyard. Such white guilt you people have.

I'm just kidding of course.

There's been a few of these programs around the country that have been very successful.

Posted by: Agnostic Fart at August 27, 2008 12:09 PM

My first job at 15 was standing at a machine all day individually wrapping muffins and putting stickers on the bottoms, followed by cashier at a supermarket, waitress, and then a part-time cleaning person while I was in college (which happened to be my introduction to Brownstone Brooklyn. It's shocking that dusting all those "original details" didn't put me off buying a house filled with them right?).

It sounds like a fantastic program. I think it's great that they incorporate money management into it.

I see too many entitled kids walking around in $200.00 jeans who honestly believe that their parents owe them these things. Imagine how they'd look at those same jeans if they had to earn the money themselves? (whoah, did my father just channel through me and type that?)

Posted by: TownhouseLady at August 27, 2008 1:05 PM

Agnostic Fart:
I know you said you were kidding, but why put racist energy out there even in jest? Most homeowners in Bed Stuy are still black, so I'm pretty sure that white guilt is not the main force at work here. And for the record, white people can care about black people without being driven by guilt.

Posted by: Drew at August 27, 2008 2:40 PM

Great post. I have already reached out and I am trying to get my mom to do the same for her place.

As long as we are talking about bad jobs as kids.....I worked as a night janitor for a school on Eastern Pkwy one summer. Each night I would go to my grandmother's place (in Flatbush) for dinner and walk home (to Halsey) at the end of my shift. Spike was filming Crooklyn that summer, so it was like walking onto a Hollywood movie set once you got to Halsey between Nostrand and Bedford.....ONE OF THE BEST SUMMERS OF MY LIFE.

Posted by: 100yearsonHalsey at August 27, 2008 3:47 PM

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