Part Five of a Series

This series of informational blog posts come from a document Mike,Caesandra and Kevin created to help orient new Buffalo ReUse board members to our mission,vision,values and the actual history of our organization. Earlier parts: One Two Three Four

ReBEL Corps – Buffalo Eco Leaders

The ReBEL Corps addresses the most urgent concern of out-of-school young adults. Every year hundreds of teenagers drop out of school, an estimated 47% of our young people currently enrolled. I was recently invited to visit a training program on the East Side of Buffalo called the OUTSOURCE CENTER, while I was there, I asked the 15 or so young men in the room at the time this question, “How many of you know an individual that has dropped out of school?” Everyone raised their hand. My second question was, “Where will those people be in three years?” Their three responses??? 1. In Jail. 2. Hustling drugs. 3. Dead. It’s devastating that these are the options for our young men and women and it’s devastating that so little is being done to address this need.

The ReBEL Corps will provide the necessary support, mentoring, and training to assist young adults in transitioning from their current situation to a technical training program, employment opportunity, or college. The ReBEL Corps is a vehicle for engaging young people in their neighborhoods, offering diverse skills training, imparting an ecological ethos, and developing a solid foundation of skills and experiences that will enable their future success as leaders, community members, entrepreneurs, and ecological stewards. The program capitalizes on a growing coalition of grassroots organizations in the City of Buffalo, a strengthening partnership between not-for-profit organizations and government, and an increasing consciousness regarding the value of greening our economy.

Young adults work on a crew of ten folks, supported by two crew leaders, and complete action oriented projects that improve neighborhoods, three days a week. Two days a week, they are engaged in community service activities, educational activities, and work to attain their GED and a work readiness credential. It is our hope that after one year of participation, young adults will obtain the tools necessary to advance to a job, advanced training, or university opportunity. This program is currently under development with a launch anticipated this Fall.

Our commitment to the hiring of young adults has been our guiding principle and value since our inception, and our mentoring has occurred organically. However, the needs of our young adults are great and it’s necessary to create more structure to the program to ensure that youth get the educational support they need to succeed in their lives and in their careers. We have piloted similar programs on a small scale during a collaboration with Catholic Charities in Spring of 2008 and then with our Green Summer program in the Summer of 2008.

We don’t want to take down houses forever. We believe that our communities can be vibrant places to live again and we believe that our young adults can be strong agents for change and in forging a new, local, and green economy. The ReBEL Corps and the BAR Program, are and will be, significant efforts in bringing about this change.