At-Risk Youth Clean Up Washoe County Parks

A total of 43 at-risk young people were given a chance to work for minimum wage this summer, in order to pay victim restitution and court fines they owe. They put in roughly 3,000 hours into the Youth Employment Program, not only cleaning up their act, but the Washoe County parks around town.

Painting, pulling weeds, and repairing the chicken coops, just some of the labor done at Ranch San Rafael Park by the teens. 

"You can definitely tell the difference, it looks better," said Chris Melloway, the Competency Development Coordinator for Washoe County Juvenile Services. 

After putting in an irrigation system, sunflowers are starting to grow at the park, but the flowers weren't the only ones blossoming. 

"They come in rough, they come in like they know everything. And by the end of the summer, they're employable. They've changed their language, they've changed their attire. They're showing up on time. They hold each other accountable," said Melloway. 

They also learn a lot more than just physical labor in this program. 

"We really talk about empathy with these young people and how you're creating victims in the community," said Melloway. "Someday you're going to want to bring your children to this park and they're not going to be able to slide down the slide because there's so much paint on it. Or the fencing broke down, or the bathrooms are shut down because they're destroyed."

The program also teaches them job lessons to gain employment down the road, including building a resume. 

"So hopefully these young people can walk into a job, impress the employer, and get a job and keep a job," said Melloway. 

In fact, one kid has already seen the benefit from this program. 

"One of the kids actually got offered a job by one of the park rangers because he was a hard worker and he was a little bit older, 17, 18. And one of the rangers said, come on back and we'll take care of you. And that's huge, that might be a lifetime career for this young man," said Melloway. 

Washoe County Juvenile Services says that some of the work done by these kids will be there forever. They hope you can enjoy all of their hard work at the beautiful parks across town.