Teens working together to clean up Trenton’s George Page Park
Teens from separate area organizations will deliver a unified clean up effort today as they visit an East Trenton neighborhood.
Representatives of A Better Way and Urban Promise Trenton expect to tidy George Page Park near Lawrence St. and North Clinton Ave.
“Actually, the park looks in really good shape. If there’s not much to do there then we will spread out through the East Trenton area and tidy up some of those streets. We expect to come together at 2 p.m. for a briefing meeting then after the cleanup all participants will share a meal together,” Urban Promise Trenton Executive Director Melissa Mantz assured.
A Better Way, headed by Perry Shaw III, and Urban Promise Trenton are partners through the East Trenton Collaborative which operates under the umbrella of New Jersey Community Capital. Numerous initiatives have produced a similar amount of successes, according to Mantz.
“Last year, NJCC received a grant which funded, among other things, summer youth employment for teens in East Trenton. NJCC created a program last year, called BOUNCE, which brought together many non-profits in the area. Since Urban Promise Trenton employs teens all year long as StreetLeaders, we provided, along with ABW, key leadership last year. There were about 15 teens in the BOUNCE program last year,” Mantz noted.
Mantz said teens hired through the BOUNCE program served as paid interns (via an NRTDC grant paid) at various non-profits such as HomeFront, Camp Freedom, Isles, Capital City Garden, and us and ABW, for seven weeks in the summer Monday through Thursday.
On Fridays, the teens came together and spent time learning from various community leaders about subjects such as smart finances, trauma care, and the also visited Princeton University as a group. At the end of the program, there was a “graduation” ceremony highlighting the success of the program.
This year, Diane Sterner, who leads the NJCC project at East Trenton Collaborative, asked Urban Promise Trenton to lead the summer youth employment outreach called ETC Street Leader Program.
“Again we partnered
with A Better Way, and the teens served as interns at various non-profits, including Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), Mercer Street Food Bank and others,” said Mantz.
The two organizations brought together about 26 teens who will complete their George Page Park effort with a special mission.
“They will be distributing message rocks throughout the area,” Mantz said. “Each peace rock has a painted message. Maybe someone’s having a bad day. They may find a rock that says “You are loved” or some other message that can improve their mental state.”
“All of our teen participants have learned that they are part of the community and that they can make contributions that improve their neighbors and neighborhood.”