Stories
He Was Unemployed and Had Many Felonies. The Urban League of Palm Beach County Helped Him Find a Job and Become Productive.
Tyron Jones entered our City of West Palm Beach Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP) as a 20-year-old high school dropout.
He had 17 felonies and used to sit on the wall on the corner of 21st and Tamarind Avenue every day with little to do.
Our program manager saw him every day loitering at the corner store and asked him if he would be interested in joining the program.
Tyron said yes — and went on to enroll and complete his employability skills training workshops.
After applying for many jobs, he was hired as a handy man working with the Home Suites Hotel at $16 per hour.
He was offered a bonus for starting the job, as well as an additional bonus if he reached 90 days on the job, and yet another bonus if he reached six months on the job.
Since enrolling in the program, he has cut his hair, pulls up his pants and now acknowledges people when entering the Urban League of Palm Beach County.
His mother recently stopped by to thank the staff for working with her son.
