Detroit's Shadow Program gives young people an intimate view of the city's inner workings
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Detroit is kicking off the second rendition of its Shadow Program, which gives young people and recent grads the opportunity to see how the real world works.
They get a view of the day-to-day jobs that members of the city of Detroit conduct, as well as how they respond to residents and make sure the government runs as best as it can.
Local perspective:
Jason James saw an opportunity to get experience in the real world, so he sent off his application.
Now, he's getting an intimate view of the kind of work that makes the city of Detroit run. But he has his own goals in mind as well.
"I'm hoping to learn a little bit more about the financial literacy field," said James.
That's the goal of the Shadow Program in Detroit, which gives youths the opportunity to see what working for the city looks like.
"Each student goes through the program one time. They will have one day to shadow and it’s pretty much like a regular work day," Logan Newman said. "You come in at 10 a.m., you leave at 3 p.m. and you treat it like a regular work day."
Newman works as an affairs outreach coordinator. He said the behind-the-scenes experience is valuable.
Big picture view:
For Keith Butler, who works as the District 5 deputy manager for Detroit's Department of Neighborhoods, the Shadows program is about lifting young people up.
"We want our young people to see the day-to-day process of how we handle issues in the neighborhood, how we respond to our residents that may have issues or things going on and then the bureaucracy behind the scenes of how you get things taken care of for your residents," he said.
The program is free for those that participate. It's open to those ages 18 to 25 and includes fields like human resources, public works, and the law department.
The application window will close Feb. 14.
"This is the most important thing to me is to give that to the next generation so that we can continue to grow this beautiful city," said Butler.