By Tracey A. Reeves
Homewood

As students pack up their books and prepare to head home for the summer, a new crop of young people is preparing to blanket the grounds of Johns Hopkins — not to study, but to work.

In its strongest show of support yet for the city of Baltimore's YouthWorks Summer Jobs Campaign, Johns Hopkins University President Ronald J. Daniels and Johns Hopkins Health System President Ronald R. Peterson this week will hand over to the city a check for $250,000, enough to employ 250 young people for six weeks this summer. Of the 250 youngsters, 150 will work in the health system and 100 for the university. Each will earn minimum wage, which over the six-week period beginning on June 22 will amount to about $1,250.

Johns Hopkins has worked alongside the city to provide summer jobs through YouthWorks for a number of years. In 2008, 186 youth were placed in summer jobs at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and several others worked for the university.

The $9 million YouthWorks campaign has raised more than $8 million toward its goal and is seeking contributions and additional work sites to complete the campaign and ensure that every young applicant is placed in a job.

The university and health system's contribution will help increase overall participation in the program, which last year employed 6,500 young people, an increase of 20 percent from the previous year. Last year, everyone who registered for a summer job was offered one. The goal this year, according to Baltimore city officials, is to be able to offer 7,000 jobs.

The YouthWorks campaign is designed to get local teens and young adults working and earning money during the summer. The program, which is administered by the city of Baltimore's Office of Employment Development, is open to local youth ages 14 to 21 and is meant to expose participants to a variety of public- and private-sector work settings. Employers, in turn, benefit by introducing young workers to their industries and helping them prepare for their future careers.

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