{"id":2245,"date":"2014-05-13T14:06:34","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T14:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youthbuildphilly.org\/?p=2245"},"modified":"2022-05-16T20:08:24","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T20:08:24","slug":"celebrating-a-year-with-starbucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/youthbuildphilly.org\/?p=2245","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating a Year with Starbucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 2013, YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School was awarded a Youth Leadership Grant from the Starbucks Foundation to support our Leadership Development programming. \u00a0Over the past year, YouthBuild Philly and Starbucks have expanded on this partnership on the ground in Philadelphia, leading to new opportunities for students and Starbucks partners alike. \u00a0Read on to learn more about this exciting and emerging partnership!<\/p>\n

Starbucks Visits YouthBuild Philly:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shortly after YouthBuild received\u00a0the Leadership \u00a0grant, Michael Scott, district manager, and Shannon Phillips, regional director, visited the school to meet with key staff and discuss ways that the two organizations could work together throughout the school year.\u00a0 Subsequent meetings with Starbucks Area 71 Community Liaison Caitlin Durkin allowed \u00a0both organizations to explore opportunities for community service and leadership development together.\u00a0 Starbucks generously donated YouthBuild Philly a $100 gift card, in addition to providing coffee and snacks for Student Ambassador meetings and volunteer events.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0December 2013, Caitlin attended a site visit at YouthBuild Philadelphia and had the opportunity to see our program in action and meet with a group of students to hear about the program from their perspective.\u00a0 Caitlin was so inspired by her visit that she encouraged Michael and Shannon to attend the next site visit which was scheduled in January.<\/p>\n

Pathways to Meaningful Employment:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Brittany<\/a>

Brittany reps YouthBuild in her Starbucks barista cap. She reports that Starbucks is a supportive environment, just like YouthBuild.<\/p><\/div>\n

At this site visit, the Starbucks representatives were so moved by the personal stories of two of our students, Brittany and Carmen, who were doing extremely well in our program but both struggling with homelessness, that both of these students were offered job interviews at Starbucks.\u00a0 Brittany and Carmen were both subsequently hired at two different Starbucks locations in the Philadelphia area and both continue to be employed there.<\/strong> In fact, Brittany was recently offered a promotion to shift manager, a job that pays $13 an hour. \u00a0Brittany and Carmen\u00a0are extremely proud to be employees at Starbucks and wear their Starbucks hats and other logoed gear to school nearly every day. \u00a0They\u00a0report that the Starbucks work environment is very supportive and reminiscent of YouthBuild. \u00a0Both students even have mentors!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Starbucks Promotes YouthBuild Day:<\/b> \"yb_starbucks_BG\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On April 3, the national network of YouthBuild programs celebrated the first ever YouthBuild Day, during which local programs organized events to raise public and political support for the YouthBuild youth development model. In Philadelphia, YouthBuild Day activities centered on a flyer and social media campaign to encourage former high school dropouts to apply to YouthBuild for the coming school year.\u00a0 Caitlin Durkin generously offered to coordinate Starbuck\u2019s support for YouthBuild Philly\u2019s campaign, and secured the participation of several stores in Center City Philadelphia.\u00a0These stores displayed posters and flyers specifically created for YouthBuild Day, and provided YouthBuild Philly shirts to employees to wear during their shifts.\u00a0 Caitlin reported that many customers recognized the\u00a0shirts and were pleased to learn that Starbucks had ties to YouthBuild Philly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Serving the Community Together:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later in April, YouthBuild Philly partnered with Starbucks for two of the company\u2019s Month of Service events.\u00a0 Service in the community is a core component of YouthBuild Philly\u2019s program, and we were pleased to partner with Starbucks in improving Philadelphia\u2019s neighborhoods through volunteer projects:<\/p>\n