Liberty Foundation awarded $10,000 to My Brother’s Workshop in St. Thomas to continue to provide education, counseling and training services for at-risk youth in the United States Virgin Islands, according to a recent press release.
“Through the support of community partners like Liberty Foundation, we are
able to provide hope, healing and purpose to the youth in our community,”
said Chrystie Payne, communications director of My Brother’s Workshop. “We
are so grateful for the support of Liberty Foundation that allows us to
share our holistic approach of mentorship, education, mental health
counseling, on-the-job training and job placement to young men and women in
the USVI.”
The organization is using the grant to fund its MBW Workshop and its MBW
Café & Bakery training program. Participants in the MBW workshop learn the
basics of the construction trade, earn skills to work in the marine industry
and study the principles of computer numerical control and computer
aided design programming. Students enrolled in the MBW Café & Bakery
program learn culinary arts and customer service skills that will help them
land jobs in the restaurant industry, according to the press release.
“Providing access to education and training programs to young people ensures
that they will be able to develop the job skills they need to support
themselves and become productive members of their communities,” said
Catherine Kling, commercial director at Liberty VI. “This is why we are so
excited to support programs like the ones My Brother’s Workshop provides to
at-risk youth in the USVI through this grant from Liberty Foundation.”
Founded in 2007, My Brother’s Workshop is a nonprofit organization that
seeks to end youth crime in the USVI by empowering at-risk youth ages 16 to
24 in the USVI to lead better lives. The organization achieves this through
a holistic approach that combines mentoring, education, mental health
counseling, on-the-job training and job placement efforts. Currently, My
Brother’s Workshop serves 150 male and female trainees who are enrolled in
its vocational and educational programs, the press release stated.
Liberty Foundation has awarded over $100,000 in grants to CFVI since 2020 to
help fund a variety of community initiatives that support childcare,
education, and environmental protection in the USVI, the release stated.
