Norton Black Men & Boys Commission Sets Young Fathers on Road to Employment with Job Readiness

Norton's Black Men and Boys Commission Sets Young Fathers on Road to Employment with Job Readiness Activities Today

January 21, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton's (D-DC) D.C. Commission on Black Men and Boys today will join with the Covenant House of Washington taking 17 young fathers out for an afternoon of mentoring and job preparation that will begin with lunch at B. Smith's Restaurant in Union Station at noon. Lunch will be followed by a mini-workshop on job hunting and getting hired and a shopping trip to help each young man select appropriate interview attire for their job search. The Black Men and Boys Commissioners, including former D.C. Police Chief Isaac Fulwood, who chairs the Commission; Tyrone Parker, D.C. director, Alliance of Concerned Men; Ronald Moten, co-founder, Peacoholics, among others will spend the day with the young fathers, who were identified through their participation in a program for fathers at Covenant House. Guest Speaker, Byron Browder, of the Alliance of Concerned Men, will address the men, ages 18-24, whose career aspirations include the construction trades, law enforcement, homeland security, hospitality, and academia. Norton's pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships, funded in the stimulus package, and in her college access program are examples of federal programs that can assist the young fathers.

"The work that the Commission on Black Men and Boys is doing with young fathers is key to family reconstruction, independence, and self-help in the African American community," Norton said. "Particularly today, with sky-high unemployment among blacks, we need to do all we can to help keep people working on what it takes to succeed in the marketplace."

Today's mentoring activities are made possible by a generous donation from the LEAP Foundation, headed by Dr. Clayton Lawrence, and is part of the Congresswoman's ongoing work to reduce some of the most serious problems of black men and boys, including broken families, chronic unemployment, gun violence, alcohol and drug addiction, HIV/AIDS infection, and incarceration. The Commission also holds hearings and town hall meetings to receive community and expert testimony. The Congresswoman established her commission in 2001.