Sonoma County Youths Cultivate Veggies, Job Skills

Disenfranchised Sonoma County youths for a sixth straight summer are participating in a county-funded program that aims to put money in their pockets and add ecology-oriented job skills to their resumes.

The Petaluma People Services Center, a community group that provides services to those in need in the city and surrounding areas has provided opportunities for local youths participating in the Sonoma County Youth Ecology Corps this summer.

The SCYEC program employs youths and young adults, offering job training, environmental education, and the opportunity to contribute to their community through ongoing outdoor experiences along with a paycheck.

More than 200 youths and young adults are involved in this year's SCYEC program, which runs through the summer, county officials said.

About 17 PPSC participants aged 14 to 24 are participating in the program according to Elese Hempel, the group's executive director.

“Each year of this program we see young people grow, not only in their ability to learn skills for employment, but in their knowledge of the environment and sustainable food sources,” Hempel said.

“So many of these young people really just need someone to give them a chance and through this program we get to give them that chance and watch them succeed.”

PPSC participants in the program have succeeded in planting and harvesting vegetables that will soon find their way to the tables of the Petaluma community's elderly and low-income families through Meals-on-Wheels and the Interfaith Pantry, Hempel said.

The PPSC participants have done maintenance work, weeding and cultivated crops on Bounty Farm, and Legghorn and Shollenberger parks and the Heritage River among other locations this summer, Hempel said.