Southwest Florida Enterprise Center is working to get teens off the streets and into jobs

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Photo via Southwest Florida Enterprise Center

The Southwest Florida Enterprise Center is making a new push for safer streets for a high crime area in Fort Myers by getting teens into the job market.

Leaders at the community redevelopment agency will meet Wednesday to re-strategize the effort to getting more businesses to partner with the center and figure out how to get more teenagers involved and off the dangerous streets.

Neighbors say the program might actually give people the confidence to apply for jobs they would otherwise avoid.

“A lot of times people, I would guess are afraid to go ask for jobs, or look for jobs and try to don’t do things because it’d be so hard for them to get it…so sometimes they just…I don’t know give up some kind of way” said Milton Johnson, of Dunbar.

The center got the ball rolling on the “Workforce Development Program” about a year ago and it is designed for students right of school to older adults.

Here are some of the programs they offer:

  • An 8-week construction course where you can earn credits towards a license free of charge
  • They just started offering classes for a commercial driving license for truck driver

Fort Myers council member, Johnny Streets says it’s a way to lower crime in the area.

“When these youth get out of school, they can come over here or they can get trained and they’ll have a job and continue their education…to me that’s a big boost but it’s also part of crime prevention,” said Council Member Streets.

If you want to learn more about the program or if you’re a business that wants to get involved, the office is right off of Martin Luther King Boulevard, and they are open everyday until 4:30 p.m.

 

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