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"YouthWorks" participants gather in the Center for Restorative Therapies at Mercy to talk about their summer jobs through the City's YouthWorks Program

Mercy Medical Center Provides Summer Jobs For Area Teens Through City's Youthworks Program

As thousands of people search for jobs across the state, dozens of Baltimore teens are headed to work.

The City of Baltimore's summer jobs program was in jeopardy until the city made good on a promise to keep it.

It's the first full week on the summer job at Mercy Medical Center for Terrance Smith.

The sluggish economy threatened to cut positions in the city's summer jobs program called YouthWorks, but the city vowed to keep it and Terrance has a paying position at the hospital.

"I'm tired of relying on my parents for stuff, I can get it myself," said Smith.

The city spent more than $3.5 million from the federal stimulus package and support from private businesses to keep Youth Works, and placed more than 7,000 teens and young adults between 14 and 24 years old.

The city's goal is to keep the teens busy during the summer months.

"When you look at the number of youth that are in the city and out of school. They need something positive to do," said Alice Cole, of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development.

Monica Marcum, Director of Volunteer Services at Mercy Medical Center, coordinates the YouthWorks program at the downtown hospital..

"The first question I ask is why should I hire you? Why should you come to Mercy?" she said.

Marcum hired nine Baltimore teens to work at Mercy this summer and notes that YouthWorks "builds confidence in teens" and for Mercy.

"A skilled workforce, people to take care of patients in our new building, and our focus was on that, on exposing these young people to potential careers in health care," Marcum added.

Some teens searched for months for a summer job, others knew exactly where to look and the skills learned this summer they keep for life.

"I'm helping patients with cancer and what-not, and I don't see that they're going through that. They're always happy. They actually make my day happier," said Andrea Whitfield, a YouthWorks student.

This is the second summer that more than 6,500 hundred students have participated in the YouthWorks program and the city says it plans to continue the trend.

The program started on Monday, June 22nd and ends on July 31st. For more information and to see WJZ-TV13's report on this story, visit this link: http://wjz.com/local/Baltimore.teens.employment.2.1061173.html