Local Teen Using White House Program To Better His Life
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Community revitalization projects take Lafayett Maultsby Jr. all over Miami-Dade County as part of his job with Americorps.
"I pick up trash, litter picking, garbage, cut grass, board up houses for the county," said 19-year-old Maultsby.
Maultsby hopes to embark on a career in law enforcement, he hopes what he's doing now will help him get there.
Maultsby is part of the Americorps program, a program that gives out-of-school young people the chance to work, continue their education and give them opportunities they would not have otherwise.
"It puts money in my pocket, puts money in my pocked for school because without this I don't believe I could go to college," he said.
The Americorps program, part of the "Greater Miami Service Corps" organization, recently received funding as part of President Obama's, "My Brother's Keeper," an initiative to help minority boys and young men finish school and find jobs.
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"Being a black man in Miami-Dade, kinda like, everytime I watch the news somebody's getting killed," Maultsby said.
A Miami City Hall Wednesday, community leaders, public agencies and nonprofit organizations held a summit to discuss what's been done since the city accepted the President's challenge to take part in "My Brother's Keeper."
"There's a lot of statistical data that was being collected, a lot of information, trying to determine where our priorities should be, who should participate in this process and that took a while. Today is a culmination of that," Milton Vickers, Senior Advisor to the City of Manager for Economic Development said.
Nationally, the president's program has attracted more than $300 million in funding from various organizations and companies.
City officials say participating entities could be eligible for federal funding in the future.
The money, Maultsby said, will go a long way in changing lives like his own.
"A career, a better job, make money, education…" he said.
City leaders said the next step in the initiate is to bring everyone together again, break them down into groups, and then come up with a working plan to move the city forward.
