Youth Mentoring and Teen Programs Help Children Explore Interests and Prepare for Academic Success

  • The Youth Mentoring Program (YMP) continues to provide teenage children of 1199SEIU members with work and learning opportunities to boost their professional development skills. For the first time since 2019, all participants were on site and worked in person.
  • In 2023, 171 1199SEIU youth were selected to participate in the YMP. The program offers a six-week hybrid summer employment opportunity at participating nursing home facilities and healthcare institutions across New York City. Interns built educational and on-the job competencies throughout the program, helping to prepare them for careers in healthcare and beyond.
  • Interns completed projects on health-related topics and presented at the YMP closing ceremony, held at the end of the summer. Project topics included mental health, nutrition, exercise and positive body image. Abigail Thomas, who worked at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, and Ernissa St. Louis, who worked at Isabella Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care, were selected as this year’s cohort representative speakers for their professionalism and outstanding work ethic.