CJCC Y2Y ambassadors attend city teen town hall meeting designed to get youth input on ways to improve Charleston.

Charleston Mayor,  Amy Shuler Goodwin along with state delegates, magistrates, other influential business owners and community members listened July 14 during a teen town hall as teens, including students from the Charleston Job Corps, shared their ideas of what is needed to make Charleston a better place for youth.

The teen town hall event, held in Charleston’s West Side, was prompted by several recent youth fatalities due to gun violence in the area. Concerned community members encouraged teenagers to share their opinions, connect with peers and propose solutions on issues important to them.

Charleston Job Corps student India Thomas speaks during the teen town hall held recently.

Several Charleston Job Corps students who also are Youth2Youth student ambassadors shared challenging life experiences and how they were able to overcome obstacles by embracing new opportunities.

CJCC students India Thomas and Antoine Gatling pointed to the Job Corps program as a vehicle to open new opportunities for them and give them direction in their life and career goals.

Prior to enrolling at Charleston Job Corps, Thomas said she felt she didn’t have the support and encouragement she needed to become a better version of herself. She feels that coming to Charleston Job Corps was a great decision and she can already see new opportunities to improve her life.  Student Antoine Gatling said he too had fallen victim to street life, finally suffering a terrible loss because of gun violence. That traumatic experience led to his decision to make a change for the better by enrolling at Charleston Job Corps.

The Y2Y ambassadors are interested in creating a peer-to-peer forum at Charleston Job Corps to offer students support as they heal from past traumatic experiences, promote discussion of and solutions to issues such as bullying, and encourage emotional, mental and physical healing and growth and camaraderie among fellow students.