Youth Workforce Programming

Queens Community House has a wide array of employment services for youth and young adults: 

Queens Connect Young Adult Food Sector Initiative: A sector-focused employment program that trains and prepares out of school youth for successful careers in the food service and manufacturing sector. Participants take part in six weeks of training and eight weeks of paid internship and are able to receive their food handler's certificate. Queens Connect is an employment collaborative  between QCH, Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement, Sunnyside Community Services, and Ocean Bay CDC.  

Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP): SYEP provides youth between the ages of 14 and 24 with paid summer employment for up to six weeks in July and August. Participants work in a variety of entry-level jobs at government agencies, non-profit organizations, hospitals, summer camps, law firms, and retail businesses. SYEP also provides workshops on job readiness, career exploration, and financial literacy.

Work, Learn, & Grow Employment Program (WLG): WLG is a City Council-funded initiative designed to build off of the experiences gained in the Summer Youth Employment Program. WLG provides former SYEP participants who are between the ages of 14-24 and currently in-school with career readiness training and paid employment opportunities for up to 25 weeks from October to April.  

Neighborhood Intergenerational Chore and Errand Program (NICE): A year-round employment program for high school students. The youth workers are trained to work with older adults. Students provide chore/shopping assistance and companionship to home-bound seniors in the local community as well as friendship and mobility assistance to older adults in area nursing homes.

Queens NDA Opportunity Youth Program: A 14-week employment program for out-of-school and unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds who live in 11368, 11372, or 11373 zip codes. The program runs from September to June.

YouthBuild Queens:  YouthBuild Queens assists young adults (ages 18-24) in attaining their High School Equivalency (HSE) Diploma and preparing for entry into the field of skilled trades. In addition to HSE instruction, participants will take part in regularly scheduled construction skills training.  Upon completion of said training, participants will attain their OSHA 30 Certification and entry into the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), a nationally recognized construction certification database.  Participants will be expected to commit to 500 hours of construction projects/activities in order to complete the program. Participants must live in one of the following zip codes: 11416, 11417, 11418, 11419, 11420, 11432, 11433, 11434, 11435, 11436, 11367, and 11355.