Van Go, Inc.

Each year, through the JAMS program, at-risk teens are paid minimum wage to create works of art such as murals, benches and smaller items for public purchase. After school and during the summer, they work at the Van Go facility 10 to 22 hours per week.
As the first employer for 83% of these youth, Van Go teaches and evaluates vital 'soft skills' that employers value: promptness, task completion, working with others, taking direction, and being a 'self-starter.' Van Go's social workers also provide valuable social services to ensure the kids are on track to graduate from high school, are mentally and physically healthy, and are accessing community resources.Van Go has a team of caring adults that provides these services at our work-site and also utilizes community volunteers to keep the adult to youth ratio at 1:4. Given this extensive support system, it's possible that on a given day at JAMS, a young person might learn perspective drawing, lead a team of peers to complete a task, and practice phone skills to call for help in the event of domestic abuse or suicidal thoughts.