MLK Youth Breakfast, Parade Float to Address Domestic Violence

Baltimore, MD – The Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s Youth Opportunity (YO!) initiative will host its annual Martin Luther King breakfast on Monday, January 19, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. at the City Temple Baptist Church (Eutaw and Dolphin Streets). More than 100 YO! members and staff will attend this event to hear Tanya Araya, project manager of the Teen Initiative at the House of Ruth, provide tips on ending domestic or relational violence. Following the breakfast, youth will participate in the Baltimore City Martin Luther King Day Parade by either riding on an anti-domestic violence float or handing out domestic violence information to parade spectators. YO! members created the float, which urges the public to “Close the Door on Violence. Open the Door to Freedom.”

“Violence in relationships is so prevalent among our youth that many young men and women have come to believe it’s normal,” said Nicole Strickland, advocate at the Eastside Youth Opportunity Center. “As our members educate the community about domestic violence, they are learning, too, and hopefully coming to understand that such violence is unacceptable.”

An initiative of the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board Youth Council, Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, and multiple workforce partners, YO! Baltimore increases the long-term employability of Empowerment Zone youth and young adults by offering a broad array of education, work-readiness and personal development resources and activities. Since YO! Baltimore began three and one-half years ago, more than 3,500 Empowerment Zone residents, ages 14 to 21, have become YO! members, and of those members:

- 335 have earned high school diplomas
- 107 have earned GEDs
- 199 are enrolled in college
- 527 have earned career training credentials
- 1,270 have been placed in employment, college or skills training

For additional information about YO! Baltimore, call 410-396-6722.