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East View High School graduate Abeer Almohommed, left, and Richarte High School senior Lillian Troe-Beasley are interns at The Caring Place this summer through the Georgetown Project’s Summer Youth Employment Program.
Twenty-one Georgetown high school students are participating in summer internships this year through The Georgetown Project’s Summer Youth Employment Program, the most students placed in the program’s history.
The Georgetown Project’s goal is to provide interns with job experience that will carry them forward in their professional careers. The Summer Youth Employment Program pays high school students $12 per hour to intern at different worksites in the Georgetown community. Through the summer, interns can work up to 160 hours, usually about 20 hours a week over an 8 week period.
Internship worksites include the Georgetown Palace Theatre, Simple Sparrow Care Farm, The Caring Place, First Texas Bank, Williamson County Animal Shelter and the Boys and Girls Club of Georgetown.
Interns are also working city jobs with the City of Georgetown, including positions in the city manager’s office, the organizational development office, the Georgetown Public Library, the Georgetown Animal Shelter, Georgetown Recreation Center and Camp Goodwater.
The program accepts high school students from across Georgetown, including those enrolled in any Georgetown ISD High School, the Gateway Prep Charter School and home schooled students. This year, The Georgetown Project received 37 applications and were able to accept 21 of them.
First-hand experience
The Caring Place is one of the worksites included in the program. Students Lillian Troe-Beasley and Abeer Almohommed are both interns at the nonprofit and said working at The Caring Place has been fulfilling.
Lillian is going to be a senior at Richarte High School in the fall and is in charge of organizing the nonprofit's shops. With prior retail experience at Walmart, she said she has found her work at The Caring Place, and getting to know the nonprofit’s tight-knit community, more fulfilling than working at a large corporation.
“It’s like I’m giving my heart back to other people, in a way.” Lillian said.
Abeer just graduated East View High and is now a Communications Intern at The Caring Place. Her primary job is running the organization’s social media, but she also helps out around the store.
As someone who wants to go into the medical field, Abeer said helping the community is important to her. She knows that she is going to have to do a lot of studying before she can serve the community medically, but her work at The Caring Place has been a great way to feel like she’s helping the community right now.
Dena Ashby, Lillian’s supervisor, said that the interns have been a joy to work with.
The Caring Place launched after the economic downturn in 1985 by churches who were overwhelmed with people asking for support.
“We started on Eighth Street in a donated slaughterhouse with $17, three bags of clothes, and a handful of volunteers,” Executive Director Ginna O’Connor said. “We’ve grown with the needs of the community.”
Now in its 38th year, the organization has a main location on 2000 Railroad Avenue with a drop off center, a food pantry, a thrift store and a used clothing boutique with higher end clothing items.
Another intern, Finn Talbot, is working at The Caring Place’s Second Helping thrift store on Williamson Drive, which sells antiques and collectables. The money made from items sold at the Caring Place stores is put back into their programs for people in need.
Program graduation
The Georgetown Project started the Youth Employment Program in 2012. Since then, over 150 high school students have participated in the program.
The program’s goal is to provide students with job experience and to connect interns with mentors in the local government, nonprofit and business sectors. The key funders of the program are the City of Georgetown, Seeds of Strength and Texas Mutual.
The Georgetown Project will be holding their Summer Youth Employment Program completion celebration from 6-7:30 p.m. on July 27 at the Chamber of Commerce. The event will honor all interns in this summer’s program.
Internship applications for the 2024 program will open in late February. Applications include a questionnaire form about the applicant’s prior work experience and interests, a letter of recommendation, an interview and a background check.