by Carl Lobley, Denisse Sanchez, Braysheen Martin and Rose Lobley

Hello, Back Yard Initiative Community! We are the TEENS Project. TEENS stands for “Teens Entering Existing Networking Systems”. We are a peer-to-peer youth leadership and entrepreneurial skills development organization in cooperation with the Back Yard Initiative. We seek to unify, empower, and equip Teens with the knowledge and skills to create, maintain, and grow the essential networking skills to obtain work opportunities. 

We”'ve have had a wonderful summer full of memories, team-building, and personal growth as well as new experiences here at the Teens Project thanks to the continuous support and generosity of our partners at the Cultural Wellness Center (CWC) and Allina Health. We have been able to staff and manage an office space located inside the Midtown Global Market over these past several months which has enabled us to achieve great accomplishments in serving the needs of our community and its members.

Over the past month, Teens Project has been creating and running various programs at the Southside Village Boys & Girls Club. Tony Arnold, the Activities Director, has worked closely with us in developing a program called “how to study” which would provide the club members with all the necessary tools to complete their work for the upcoming school year. Ms. Stephanie, the Program Director, has also been involved in the fun! We recently hosted a back-to-school event where we handed out pizza & school supplies to kids of the neighborhood. In all, we had about 320 people including parents attend the event. We”'ve also been assisting in bringing back a lost program called “Keystone” which would provoke more teens to come and join the Boys & Girls Club. In the upcoming month, we plan to create a work-readiness training program that will provide the teen with an updated resume upon completion. This is essential in gaining work opportunities as young adults.

We also held a National Night Out event on August 5, in connection with CWC staff member, Rose Lobley, who hosted and directed the event. We had about 75 community members in attendance enjoying hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, and beverages. Some of the neighbors brought their own dishes of food, too. There were games and tournaments for the youth and we were even able to recruit youth to TEENS Project. In all, it was a total success.

For more info, visit the Back Yard Initiative Resource Center in the Midtown Global Market or call Carl or Rose Lobley at the BYI Resource Center, 612-353-6211.

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