By S. Alison Chabonais

Dedicated, caring, passionate business people are taking an

interest in Southwest Florida’s youth. Together, the business community is

finding simple, creative ways to help kids stay out of trouble and give solid

direction to their lives. This effort is made in individual ways uniquely

suited to corporate and employee skills and resources — at a level businesses

are comfortable offering. The immediate personal satisfaction in knowing that

your business has helped turn a child’s life around for the better is the

ultimate reward. Yet another result — an up-and-coming qualified workforce —

benefits everyone.

Troubled or not, today’s kids fight a steep uphill battle.

Youth program administrators consider every kid “at risk.” At risk doesn’t

necessarily mean that a youngster is in trouble now, but it means there is

great potential for him to yield to negative or competitive peer pressures and

make missteps at some time.

>From the bright, gifted student seeking constructive

challenges to beat the boredom that leads to mischief, to the everyday good kid

encountering a fragile time, every young person needs someone to care and show

interest. These days, many kids are no strangers to family dysfunction. Young people

— particularly in single parent households — too often find themselves lacking

constructive role models and at loose ends after school, the hours most

juvenile offenses occur. On any given day, any given kid has the potential of

making a bad choice and then suffering the consequences. With a little extra

effort these bad choices can be reduced or eliminated.

Partnerships that Work

That’s where Southwest Florida’s business community comes

in. More and more members of the business community are helping to ensure that

eight of 10 children who encounter our juvenile justice system don’t return to

trouble.

Restaurants, business services, groceries, contractors, real

estate firms, and retail stores lead the way in hiring “at risk” kids

identified by the juvenile justice system. The list goes on to embrace just

about every kind of business. Getting students to a state of job readiness is

achieved incrementally. It begins with tours of commercial enterprises, job

shadowing, classroom talks and one-on-one academic mentoring. It can take the

form of sponsoring a junior league team, supplying sports uniforms or coaches,

conducting art classes, or supervising community service projects. It may

entail introducing teens to basic skills such as how to write a resume, complete

a job application, and prepare to interview. Opportunities are limitless.

“Kids succeed by making small, incremental steps,” notes

Doug Jaye, deputy court administrator for the 20th Judicial Circuit. They get

involved in church. Or they stop using drugs. They learn to responsibly handle

a job. They make better judgment calls.

“Across the board, our job is to challenge youngsters to

work toward and expect success in the classroom, in society, and in their

chosen career path,” says Hardy Smith, chair of Florida Business Partners for

Juvenile Justice.

Randall Vann gets to know 30 to 40 troubled teens each year

in his work with Southwest Florida Marine Institute, a last-chance school for

juveniles headed for jail or detention centers. “You can’t take these kids and

throw them out. Somebody has to pluck out the good ones, and we see a lot of

good ones,” he says. “We have kids who have gone on to college, law school,

not-for-profit administration, and professional sports.”

The Southwest Florida Marine Institute teaches seamanship,

boating, diving, and teamwork. It’s not unusual to raise academic skills by two

grade levels in the process. His company, R.J. Vann Mechanical Corporation of

Ft. Myers, has apprenticed, interned, and hired half a dozen program graduates

to work in its plumbing, fire protection, and air conditioning trades. Publix

welcomes many of the school’s graduates as employees.

According to Chris Owens, director of restaurants for

Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa, “It’s pure fun when these kids visit us.” His

company hosts 20 to 25 youngsters each month with or without their “bigs” from

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Florida. During the past three years,

Owens has watched as 400 little ones change before his eyes from shy,

stand-offish kids to best buddies by end of day.

Sanibel Harbour’s professionals demonstrate the art and

science of being a banquet or pastry chef, tennis instructor, eco-tour guide,

and part-time student worker. Five employees host the young people for four

hours of good time activities that open their thinking to new views of what’s

possible for their own future. Every demonstration stresses the resort’s status

as a drug-free workplace.

SouthTrust Bank takes another tact, partnering with Junior

Achievement to send employees into elementary, middle, and high school

classrooms to teach tips on personal financial management. Sessions range from

one hour a week for a period of five weeks to one semester. More than 6,500

students were touched last year, the tenth year of this Southwest Florida

program.

“Young people have a hard time conceiving that decisions

they make today will affect their direction for the rest of their lives,” says

Hardy Smith. “As our generation was growing up, we could make mistakes, do

stupid or silly things, and still turn out okay. Opportunities existed to step

back and correct ourselves. This next generation finds itself coping with an

environment that is less than fair.”

Everyone concurs that today’s kids are smart. They’re not

lazy or stupid or bad. Generally speaking, they know right from wrong. They

just need a little help at crucial turning points in their young lives in order

for them to turn out okay.

“Anything and everything we do betters the odds,” says

Smith. “I for one am not betting the odds without taking a hand in doing

something about it.”

For ideas on how you and your business can help, call

Lawrence Ely, Partnerships & Volunteers Specialist at the Department of

Juvenile Justice, (941) 433-6508.

S. Alison Chabonais is a freelance business writer and

public relations consultant.