A young male who was suffering from severe anxiety and was referred to Youth Job Connection by his psychologist. He often spoke about not being able to leave his room, be in a classroom or be in social settings because of his mental health. Once pre-employment was completed his first interview was set up, I went to meet this young man before his interview to help prepare. During this time he admitted he had spent an hour earlier in the morning typing, erasing, and retyping a message to staff which went along the lines of cancelling the interview as he was not ready or too anxious for the interview.

Because of the encouraging words from staff in the morning he was able to make his way to interview prep! He thanked YJC for changing his outlook on employment and class room settings, explaining he had to drop out of high school due to his anxiety in a class room setting but was looking forward to every day in pre-employment. He then thanked the staff for pushing him past his comfort zone in order to take a step forward with his life. Not only did was he able to complete the interview with confidence but also advocate for himself throughout it and obtained the position on the spot!

Walking out of the interview he described his feeling as being the happiest he has been in a while. This young man could not believe that he went from being unable to leave his room to being employed in the matter of weeks through YJC and is  currently enjoying his placement and working towards improving his social skills.

Working with this youth reaffirmed the importance of our programs and the people running them. All of the caring staff at 360 are what changes these youths lives on a daily basis!