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Ten youths were given certificates of completion and cards that show would-be employers they have successfully finished the Go for the Gold program and are capable of holding down gainful employment at a graduation ceremony held Thursday in the Springwood Center.

Go for the Gold, a program made possible by the CDI, gives youths a leg up in securing employment. The CDI is a voluntary cooperative effort that involves faith-based, educational and law enforcement agencies and is co-chaired by Asbury Park Mayor Myra Campbell and Thomas Huth, director of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau.

“We instill in them the soft skills, the practical stuff,” said Huth. “It gives them the skills to get the job.”

“Life is a game,” said Campbell to the graduates. “You have to learn to accept victory and deal with defeat– every time you fail, you are learning to succeed … you are going to get ten no’s before you get a yes. It is hope, drive, and inspiration that will carry you through.”

Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini challenged each of the graduates to start networking immediately by introducing themselves to the various executives and dignitaries that attended the ceremony that day.

“You are the future of Asbury Park, and I just love this city and I know you are going to bring great things to it,” Angelini said.

A teary-eyed Demonica Cope said she was thankful the people at her sponsorship agency, the Community Affairs and Resource Center, were patient with her while she was learning.

“Overall, these people have made a great impact on my life,” she said. As a result, Cope was able to earn her GED, she said.

In order to take part in the program, Asbury Park youths that show promise while working for their Community Development Initiative sponsor agencies must be given a recommendation by their respective work agencies.

They are then interviewed by the Monmouth County Workforce Investment Board and the ones that make the cut attend four, three-hour workshops that cover topics like hygiene, interview skills, resume writing and what prospective employers look for in a worthy candidate, said Heather Schulze, who heads up the program for nonprofit agency Interfaith Neighbors.

“The real focus of the [Community Development Initiative], from the beginning, was to get local youth employed in local businesses.” said Schulze. “It’s designed to try and bridge that gap that has somehow grown over the years.”

[Photo above: Front Row, from left to right: Mayor Myra Campbell, Demonica Cope and Porshia Jordan. Back row: Dessiah Moore; Kenyeta Morris; Mark Ruffin; Sanjuana Hernandez; Quaneara Bullock; Khalil Wharton; Olatunde Amusan; Heather Schulze, Interfaith Neighbors; Thomas Latimore; and Tomas Huth, director of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau.]

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