Precious Perks provides opportunities through A Precious Child’s Social Enterprise Coffee and Gift Shop for young adults, 16-24-year-olds, who are currently out of school and without employment, helping them with training, obtaining and retaining employment.

As of 2021, 65,300 16-24 year olds in Colorado are neither in school nor the workforce. U.S. employers say the inability to find qualified workers is their biggest obstacle to growth, while at the same time more than 75% of youth express concerns about whether they have the skills necessary to secure a job.

With a focus on diversity, inclusion and belonging, participants of Precious Perks learn how to navigate the professional workforce and the many obstacles they will face. Providing continued mentorship and opportunities with A Precious Child’s multiple programs will allow the participants to feel secure and supported to help keep them on the pathway toward self-reliance.

Precious Perks combines social services, community support, job training and education. Over their training period, participants will have strategic short-term, mid-term and long-term achievements. The participants will have hands-on experience and supervision through the Precious Perks Coffee and Gift Shop giving them the unique opportunity to participate locally in an individual-focused wrap-around workforce development plan.

The Precious Perks program goal is to help young adults enter the job market with the skills and confidence they need to excel.  By providing cradle-to-career support, we help break the cycle of poverty and reduce the socioeconomic inequalities among young adults in the Denver Metro region.

The program will provide case management to each participant, helping them navigate resources and become referred to external partners for wrap-around services such as housing and childcare.

By helping our Precious Perks young adults train and obtain long-term employment and address underlying issues, such as problems related to housing, personal relationships and/or mental health, we also help increase stability and positive outcomes for any children they may have now or in the future. Precious Perks helps prevent multigenerational poverty, creates a more diversified professional workforce and helps add financial contributions to the local economy. Our success will be measured by achieving clients’ goals and their employment within the local economy.

The curriculum will be a combination of training by leaders in the community, financial literacy, interview preparation, companies, and mentorship tours. The Precious Perks workforce development class will take 7 months for each participant, with 6 of those months focused on programming and education. The last month will feature both graduation and the start of the participant’s mentorship.

Participants will be able to receive a laptop from our Edussentials program to assist in their studies. In addition to learning soft skills associated with operating a business, they will also take part in training for hard skills, including earning their Certificate of Work Ethic Proficiency from The Center for Work Ethic Development, the National Career Readiness Certificate, and the National Retail Federation RISE UP Retail Industry Fundamentals Certificate.

Understanding the barriers these disadvantaged young adults operate daily and how these hurdles impact their ability to reach achievements was a primary focus during program design.

Young adults 16-24 yrs old looking to advance their career and economic impact, please fill out the Precious Perks Participant Application located here

Working professionals looking to become a mentor for Precious Perks to help these young adults maneuver the workforce and many obstacles that will develop, please fill out the Precious Perks Mentor Application here

Corporations and Businesses looking to become involved in local racial equity, helping young adults advance in the workplace, change the pay gap and diversify the workforce, please fill out the Precious Perks Business Application here

For more information on participation, mentorship, or a corporate partnership, please email Cecil Velazquez, Precious Perks Director by phone 303.466.4272 x115 or at cecil@apreciouschild.org

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