Need some work done? Youth Services paying for day jobs

BRATTLEBORO - “Work Today,” a fledgling Youth Services day-labor program piloted last summer, is expanding work sites beyond maintenance and project work for the town of Brattleboro in its final month of resumed operations.
Area businesses, nonprofits or property owners who need temporary labor at their homes on a Tuesday or Thursday before Friday, October 1 are encouraged to sign up now, preferably with at least a week’s advance notice on when workers are sought.
Youth Services sets people up with their jobs, trouble-shoots with employers, provides lunch and counseling services in the afternoon, and participants return back to work afterward. Workers are paid in cash at the end of the day.
Youth Services charges the work site $20 an hour to hire the day laborers. Fifteen dollars an hour goes to the worker and $5 goes toward the salary of a part-time coordinator, who matches participants with work sites, provides hiring, supervision, lunches, transportation and payment, as well as referrals and recommendations for future employment and community supports.
So far this session, “Work Today” participants have sealed decks and painted sheds, pulled weeds, moved boxes, painted a home, gardened, worked on cars, unloaded delivery trucks, completed housekeeping tasks, done dishes and food prep, stacked firewood, cleaned out invasive plants, picked fruit, and performed yard cleanups.
If area residents anticipate having projects that could utilize day labor email info@youthservicesinc.org with date options and a description. Residents can also call Renee at (802) 257-0361, ext. 131, or Michaela at (802) 258-7236. For more information about Youth Services or to support the program with a donation visit youthservicesinc.org.