Youth Programs

Overview

MYEP Students smiling at the camera while holding #1 hand props at the MYEP Kickoff event.

When young people are engaged in their communities, they become more connected to the world around them and feel a stronger sense of ownership over their futures. Youth programs support improving life outcomes for our youngest citizens and improving the quality of life in our city, neighborhoods, and families. Partnering with youth and providing opportunities for young people to grow in their leadership skills helps bring new perspective.

Youth engagement programs like Job & Career Readiness Training and the Mayor’s Youth Employment Program empower students to learn about the world of work, make connections, and expand their future career opportunities. The Mayor’s Mentoring Alliance provides role models and programs to help young people develop the confidence and skill sets they need to succeed academically and in life.

HNS also supports Generation Nation, which oversees the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council (CMYC). Through the CMYC, high school students meet regularly to advise CMS and community leaders, build civic leadership, and help to transform schools and the community for the better. 

Mayor's Youth Employment Program

The Mayor’s Youth Employment Program (MYEP) provides all Charlotte youth with equitable career development opportunities to explore the world of work, build social capital, and enhance economic mobility.

MYEP participants explore careers, hone skills, and gain exposure to models of professionalism, creating pathways to attainable career goals. As youth achieve, our community grows stronger.

We seek to build partnerships with host employers in Charlotte's economy's private, public, and non-profit sectors who can provide one-of-a-kind career experiences for MYEP participants. Businesses provide career experiences that help youth develop career goals, stay in school, achieve academically, and enhance social skills that enable them to succeed. Students connect to the work world, allowing businesses and communities to know the needs and successes of the students and schools.

   

MYEP History

In the Mid-1980s, Mayor Harvey Gantt developed a framework for a program to support upward mobility for Charlotte youth. In 1986 his vision came to life as the Mayor's Youth Employment Program (MYEP), dedicated to providing students with career experiences that help youth develop career goals, stay in school, achieve academically, and enhance social skills that enable them to succeed in life. Over the years, the MYEP has gained state and national recognition.

For Students: MYEP Application Process

Thank you for your interest in applying to the Mayor's Youth Employment Program!

Prospective MYEP participants must complete the following steps before being considered for placement:

  1. Complete Job & Career Readiness Training. If you received a completion certificate last year from (JCRT), you do not need to complete this course again. 
  2. Submit a MYEP application, including a resume, written component, career interests, and skills
  3. Complete a virtual MYEP interview
  4. Complete a background check and drug screening

MYEP staff review all application materials before assigning students to a Host Employer. 

Student Eligibility

MYEP students are high school students (or will graduate in the Spring of 2024). In order to participate in the MYEP, students must…

  • Be 16 on or before April 15, 2024
  • Be enrolled as a current student in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools or reside in the City of Charlotte
  • Successfully complete a Job & Career Readiness Training
  • Have a current photo ID and a Social Security number
  • Complete an online application and interview by Monday, December 4, 2023
  • Follow instructions (provided in the Spring) to complete a background check and drug screen
  • Participate in a student orientation

Charlotte Mecklenburg School (CMS) students may contact their school's Career Development Coordinator (CDC) regarding participating in the MYEP. Non-CMS students may contact 704-336-5577 for information.


For Businesses: Become A Host Employer

The MYEP works to provide all Charlotte youth with equitable career development opportunities to explore the world of work, build social capital, and enhance economic mobility. This mission is not possible without the support of businesses like you.

Ways businesses can get involved:

  • Sponsor a work experience for a student to be placed at a local non-profit
  • Serve as a Subject Matter Expert in one of our virtual pathways, benefiting hundreds of students interested in your industry
  • Host a student at your place of business during the 6-week window


Benefits to employer partnership:

  • No resumes or interviews to sort through
  • Participants have completed a college-level career and readiness training prerequisite
  • Custom matching with students based on skills/needs
  • Drug and background screenings

 

Becoming a host employer

The MYEP is a 6-week summer career-focused internship program, a minimum of 25 hours per week at a rate of $13/hour for a total of $1,950.

  • Experience can be onsite, virtual, or a hybrid of on-location and remote.
  • Pre-requisite training is offered to all CMS high schoolers and those in the Charlotte area who attend charter/private schools or are homeschooled.


Loebsack & Brownlee

 


LAWA

 

CAMP NORTH END   


List of Partners and Sponsors 

  • Accenture
  • Allegacy Federal Credit Union
  • Ally Financial
  • Amwins
  • Atrium Health
  • Balfour Beatty
  • Bank of America
  • Blumenthal Performing Arts
  • Books with Color, Inc.
  • Bosch Rexroth
  • Care Ring
  • Carolina Family Alliance
  • CATS
  • Charlotte Art League
  • Charlotte Ballet
  • Charlotte Country Club
  • Charlotte Fire Department
  • Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department
  • Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools
  • Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA)
  • City of Charlotte
  • Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc.
  • Digi-Bridge
  • Discovery Place
  • Duke Energy
  • Electric Power Research Institute
  • Everage Law Firm, PLLC
  • Excel C Foundation
  • First Gen Success
  • FirstLight Home Care of Greater Charlotte
  • Freedom in Me
  • Freedom School Partners
  • Gaffney Health
  • Hack & Hustle Social Entrepreneurship Academy, Inc.
  • Hoopaugh Grading
  • Hope Community Clinic of East Charlotte
  • Hope Haven, Inc.
  • Latin Americans Working for Achievement (LAWA)
  • Loebsack & Brownlee, PLLC
  • Lowe's
  • LS3P Architects
  • Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court
  • Mecklenburg County District Court #26
  • Messer Financial Group, Inc
  • Microsoft
  • Moore & Van Allen, PLLC
  • NC MedAssist
  • ourBRIDGE for Kids
  • Picture Project CLT
  • R.J. Leeper Construction, LLC
  • Raise a Child of The Carolinas
  • Robinson Bradshaw
  • She Built This City
  • Starmount Healthcare Management
  • Teen Health Connection
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
  • The Lee Institute
  • The Park Community Development Corporation
  • TIAA
  • Trane
  • Truist
  • Upcycle Arts
  • Urban League of Central Carolinas
  • Williams Chiropractic and Wellness

For Non Profits: Apply for a Grant to Become a Host Employer

The MYEP excited to provide grants to local non-profits to subsidize placements for Charlotte youth to have an immersive work experience with your organization.  This opportunity is an exciting way to expose youth to the meaningful work being done in the community.

To Apply:

Registered 501(c)3 organizations may apply for grant funding to provide a stipend for MYEP youth.

Deadline: February 2, 2024

  • The grant application for this season is closed
  • Complete SparkHire Interview
  • Submit Certificate of Liability

Benefits to non-profit partners:

  • No resumes or interviews to sort through
  • Participants have completed our Job & Career and Readiness Training prerequisite
  • Custom matching with students based on skills/needs
  • Drug and background screenings
  • Grant funding to provide payment to MYEP youth participant

 

 

Becoming a host employer

The MYEP is a 6-week summer career-focused internship program, a minimum of 25 hours per week at a rate of $13/hour for a total of $1,950.

  • Experience can be onsite, virtual, or a hybrid of on-location and remote.
  • Pre-requisite training is offered to all CMS high schoolers and those in the Charlotte area who attend charter/private schools or are homeschooled.



 

City of Charlotte Named All-America City for Its Youth Programs

Charlotte has been named a 2023 All-America City by the National Civic League for its work focused on youth engagement and development. This prestigious award has recognized and celebrated the best in American civic innovation since 1949.

Read full All America City Award Story

 

 

Job and Career Readiness Training

The City of Charlotte's Youth Programs allows 16-24-year-old residents to participate in career readiness training free of charge. This virtual experience covers job readiness, interview preparation, and essential skills. 

JCRT is each Fall beginning in October. Completion of JCRT is required to be eligible for MYEP participation.

Registration for JCRT 2023 will reopen in September.

For more information about in-school training, please get in touch with your Career Development Coordinator (CDC) at your school. For more information about community training, call the MYEP at 704-336-5577

Generation Nation: Charlotte Mecklenburg Youth Council

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Youth Council (CMYC) is the official student advisory council for City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. The program is managed in partnership with GenerationNation, a Charlotte-based nonprofit with strong experience in K-12 education and youth civic leadership. CMYC further positions Charlotte as an innovative, inclusive, inspiring, and welcoming city that is focused on the future.

 

Through the CMYC partnership, diverse Charlotte youth:

  • Positively interact with and advise community leaders;
  • Gain understanding about the city’s successes, challenges, and opportunities for civic problem-solving in the City and across local governments and organizations;
  • Join a growing network of young civic leaders who are working to make Charlotte America’s Queen City, opening her arms to a diverse and inclusive community of residents, businesses, and visitors alike; a safe family-oriented city where people work together to help everyone thrive.

You can join any time during the year.

 

Youth and Safety

Alternatives to Violence

Alternatives to Violence (ATV) works to stop shootings and killings in the Beatties Ford/LaSalle area using a public health model with three primary strategies:

Detecting and interrupting conflicts.

Identifying and treating individuals at high risk of involvement in violence.

Changing social norms that exacerbate violence in the community.

ATV team members are trusted messengers who are based in the community. These trained violence interrupters and outreach workers prevent shootings by identifying and mediating potentially violent conflicts in the community and following up to ensure the conflict does not reignite. ATV outreach workers engage high-risk individuals, talk to them about the costs of violence, and assist them in accessing services and support, including employment. The team works within the community to communicate that violence should not be viewed as usual but as a behavior that can be changed.

Video Transcript

The city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are joining a rising national movement to stop violence before it happens and empowering the community with quick, effective techniques to resolve conflict. 

Alternatives to Violence, better known as ATV, addresses violent crime as a public health crisis. A trusted network of community advocates that detects and interrupts conflicts, identifies and treats high risk individuals and deters violent behavior through community engagement. 

Developed by the nonprofit organization, Cure Violence global, this model has lowered crime rates in several U.S. cities and in countries across the globe.

In Charlotte, work begins at Beatties Ford Road and Lasalle Street. A hotspot for violence where the Alternatives to Violence team is building relationships and trust.


 

SAFE Charlotte

The City of Charlotte has solidified and implemented public safety policy improvements developed through conversations with residents and community leaders. We understand that a safer Charlotte goes beyond changes to policing and public safety. It means tackling systemic issues to ensure a community of equity and opportunity. Taking a holistic approach, we have rolled up our sleeves to address such intertwined factors as unemployment, housing, transportation, and workforce development. Among the improvements in progress, we are empowering more non-uniformed civilians and providing additional community resources for success. Change does not happen overnight. But over time, we have seen meaningful and sustainable improvements in action, with more to come in the year ahead.

 

 

Community Violence Data Dashboard

The dashboard is intended to introduce several indicators of community violence including homicides and violent crimes. In the future, this dashboard will include other key indicators of crime including youth violence, intimate partner violence, emergency department visitations and other measures.

Corridors of Opportunity

Corridors are vital to the health of Charlotte’s communities, serving as links that connect people to the resources and businesses they need to live and thrive. With a $38.5 million investment, the City of Charlotte is renewing its commitment to six key corridors.

Hospital Based Violence Intervention

The city will partner with Atrium Health to launch an evidence-based hospital-based violence intervention program that will work with victims of violence who require medical assistance from Atrium.

SAFE Charlotte Grants

As a part of the SAFE Charlotte report recommendations, the city has partner with United Way to deploy grants to Charlotte-based grassroots organizations to address violence.