Young Culminate Summer Program In DC

Young people celebrate the culmination of the program with joy after receiving their certificates and posing for a photo with District of Columbia officials and other program partners. Photo: Courtesy Jossmar Castillo Washinton Hispanic Nearly 200 young people from the District of Columbia completed last week the summer jobs program that the Washington government carries out year after year. Dozens of participants attended a ceremony on August 3, where certificates of recognition were awarded for completing eight weeks of training in nonprofit organizations and government offices.

Participants received a stipend for the weeks they participated in the program. “I love the program,” said Andrea Alcalá, who graduated from Bell Multicultural High School and now studies at Trinity Washington University. She has been participating for the past four years and has noticed and personal and professional growth.

Andrea was under the supervision of Professor Víctor Molina at the same school where she graduated, but this time she was learning everything she could in the assistance office.

He even learned to write an effective resume that will help him in the future when he begins to see his job options. “With the courses offered at the beginning of the job, they give us guidelines on how the work environment is,” Alcalá said. The Office of the Mayoress for Latino Affairs (MOLA) has launched an alternate program to the Marion Barry Summer Employment Program in recent years, with the help of the District’s Employment Services Department, which reaches young people who do not have a social Security.

“These students and young people are part of our community and deserve access to opportunities that allow them to progress,” said Jackie Reyes, director of MOLA. On Friday 3 the young people also had the opportunity to attend a session of the Municipal Council and pretend that they were legislators and government authorities.

To learn more about the program that is open to District residents between the ages of 14 to 24 years of age, you can go to or call the MOLA office.