BRIDGE to train at-risk youth

Some 200 unemployed and at-risk youth from communities devastated by Hurricane Melissa are set to receive training in roof repairs, steel fixing, and masonry under a recently launched the Building Resilience and Inspiring Development through Guided Experience (BRIDGE) project.

The initiative targets persons between the ages of 18 and 25 who have exited the formal education system and have been identified by local social service agencies as being at high risk of long term unemployment, crime, or social exclusion.

It also prioritises young people who lack stable family support or who may be experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity as a result of the hurricane.

Participants will also receive a monthly stipend of $65,000, contingent upon consistent attendance and active participation in training and related programme activities.

Dr Taneisha Ingleton, managing director of the HEART/NSTA Trust told the participants that successful completion of the programme would require discipline, punctuality, respect for supervision, openness to correction, and a commitment to improvement.

"Do not see BRIDGE as an ending but as your beginning and a Launchpad into progress, stability and lifelong growth," Dr Ingleton said.

At the same time Lieutenant Colonel, Alicia Cooper-Nelson, affirmed the Jamaica Defence Force support for the initiative. She said programmes like BRIDGE help build social stability.

"When young Jamaicans are equipped with skills, certification and purpose, our nation becomes safer and stronger," she said.