Earlier this week, Archbishop William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore, wrote to pastors of the Archdiocese’s 154 parishes asking them to hold special collections at all Masses the weekend of June 20-21 to support Baltimore City’s summer jobs program. The Archbishop committed $100,000 to the program, which needs $1.5 million to reach its goal of providing 8,000 city youth with summer jobs.
“Several weeks have passed since the tragic death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore City,” Archbishop Lori wrote. “The Church remains committed to being actively involved in the public conversation about systemic issues such as poverty, racism, access to quality schools, jobs, and housing…The Church is engaged in addressing these issues in a substantive way and is seeking partners to create vehicles for doing so.”
The summer jobs program is operated by the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development and places high school age Baltimore City youth in five-week internships. These jobs provide a summer income, meaningful work experience and exposure to careers and skills.
“The Archdiocese is pleased to join with Johns Hopkins University and other leading institutions in Baltimore in addressing this need on behalf of the youth of our city,” Archbishop Lori said. “This is an important first step in addressing a critical need and a critical time for Baltimore’s leading institutions to come together for the good of our city, the good of God’s children.”
The summer jobs program consists of YouthWorks, which places youths in public-sector jobs, and Hire One Youth, which connects youths with private-sector jobs.