INDIANAPOLIS — A local grassroots organization is starting its youth summer employment program this week, giving local kids a way to make money while keeping them out of trouble.
At ML and Trip Mentoring Outreach Center they just started their youth employment initiative. The first focus is on beautifying the grounds here at the center on North Sherman Drive. From there they are heading out into the community and will eventually create a community garden to help feed local families.
“Trying to get the kids to believe in building something on their own,” Fletcher Triplett, co-president of ML and Trip Mentoring Outreach Center, said. “Kids who need our help and kids who just want to help to prevent them from going to the streets or making bad decisions.”
Triplett and his wife, Lashauna, have a passion for mentoring and empowering kids that face a variety of challenges, from trouble in school to mental health issues.
“I was a bad kid at school,” Charles Forest, part of the youth employment program, said. “I used to have Fs, a whole lot of Fs. Now I got As and Bs and one C, that was my lowest grade.”
Triplett has been mentoring Forest for six years. During that time, Forest said he’s learned coping skills like how to calm down and relax and this summer he’s learning even more.
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