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Need A Summer Job? Apply Now For 1 Of 30,000 Offered By City

By Heather Cherone | March 15, 2017 5:51am | Updated on March 17, 2017 11:37am
 One Summer Chicago participant Arkalius Howard meets Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
One Summer Chicago participant Arkalius Howard meets Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
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DNAinfo/Andrea V. Watson

CHICAGO — Teens and young adults looking for a summer job or internship can apply online for one of the 30,000 positions offered through the One Summer Chicago program.

Youths ages 14-24 can apply online at onesummerchicago.org until May 15, officials said.

For the first time, Chicagoans with a little extra cash can donate online through the Robert R. McCormick Foundation to expand the opportunities for the teens and young adults, who typically earn about $165 a week tending a community garden, creating public art or working in an office, officials said.

"Every year, One Summer Chicago opens the doorway of opportunity to a valuable work experience and a summer paycheck today, leading our children to realize their full potential and a brighter future tomorrow," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

About 2,000 of the jobs will be set aside for the city’s most at-risk young men and women, Emanuel said. In addition to a paycheck, those teens and young adults will be offered "intensive mentoring and cognitive therapy" as part of an effort to reduce crime, according to the Mayor's Office.

Emanuel said he was frustrated that the city was getting no funding from the state or federal government to pay for the summer jobs program.

"The federal government and the state government [are] AWOL on supporting our kids," Emanuel said.

One Summer Chicago started in 2011 with 700 jobs, officials said.

Emanuel also endorsed an effort by Thrive Chicago, a nonprofit group, to help 10,000 16- to 24-year-old Chicagoans find work or go back to school by 2020.