Job Corps participants worried about looming closure of center

More than three dozen young people in Manchester could be at risk of being homeless after the Department of Labor announced last week that it’s suspending operations at Job Corps facilities across the country. For 19-year-old Amelia, poetry is the best way to explain how she’s feeling.”Now that the sun has left the sky, the night comes in to creep as if the sun could never exist,” she said. “It stole all the day, teached me.”The Job Corps participant said she’s worried because the program’s facility in Manchester is set to be shut down at the end of the month.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<“It just means that the darkness that comes with them shutting this place down,” Amelia said.The Trump administration announced that it plans to shut down Job Corps centers across the country. A federal judge on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order preventing the closures, but Job Corps participants are still worried about losing a program that they say helped them significantly.”I was homeless before I came here, and I had no self-identity,” Amelia said. “I felt that I wasn’t worth anything.”New Hampshire’s Job Corps program enrolls 240 young people ages 16 to 24. Job Corps is the largest nationwide residential training program in the country, helping people complete their high school educations and training them for meaningful careers.”This program has been a great change for me,” said Owen, another Job Corps participant. “I’ve gotten so many opportunities and so many chances to become better.””For a lot of people, this is their home,” said program participant Joshua, who said he’s not sure where he will go if the center closes.Program leaders said 43 participants are at risk of being homeless, and another 100 have no safe place to go. Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said the city is working to find solutions.”We will ensure that all of the kids that are at Job Corps are taken care of 100%,” he said.Critics say that Job Corps is too costly, alleging there have been serious incidents on campuses, including violence, drug use and security breaches. But program leaders and participants say those attacks aren’t true.”To completely shut down an opportunity for our youth and for the country would be an absolute shame,” said Stephanie Ashworth, Manchester Job Corps campus director. “And I just want people to know that it’s not too late, and we need you guys to stand up and speak up.””The kids who are still here to this day, they deserve this outlet,” Amelia said. “They deserve to be here, and they deserve to be heard.”Ruais said the city will be ready for whatever happens with the program.

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