At Juma, we believe in the power of work and the potential of young people. Every young person has boundless capacity to learn, grow, find their life’s path, and triumph. However, some young adults will have a much steeper hill to climb in order to achieve their dreams. Despite all youth deserving a safe, healthy, and loving childhood free from structural barriers to success, we know that many go without these basic necessities. Since Juma’s founding over 30 years ago, we have witnessed firsthand the way that the Juma job and supportive community can help to alleviate these imbalances–but all too often, structural barriers like homelessness, foster-care involvement, disconnection from school, and lack of access to food, healthcare, and childcare can prevent young people from attending and succeeding at work. 

Juma’s Program Coordinators already do a great job of delivering workshops addressing key skills like financial capability, career skills like networking, professional communications, and more. But removing structural barriers to success required a more robust team of specialists–so, we created a new role on our team: Case Manager.

In 2022-2023, Juma piloted this new role in Sacramento, a site where 100% of young adults were not only low-income, but also faced additional barriers to success, the highest of all of our sites. In Sacramento, 70% of young adults shared that they faced 2 or more barriers to success.

The results have been tremendous. 

For youth like Cameron, a Sacramento youth facing numerous challenges, having the support of this role was a game-changer. When Cameron started his Juma job, he did not possess a mobile phone, so he could not communicate easily or receive essential updates about his job. He lacked a government-issued ID, a crucial document for identification and access to many services. Compounding these issues, he had no bank account, making it nearly impossible to receive paychecks on time. This combination of obstacles hindered his ability to manage his finances and made it challenging to stay informed about his work schedule, creating further instability.

Amanda, Juma Sacramento’s dedicated Case Manager, collaborated with Cameron to secure essential documentation for his identification, assisted him in opening a bank account, and linked him with a program that offers free mobile phones. With these barriers addressed, Cameron is now excelling in his role at Juma, consistently arriving on time and with confidence and building financial assets. 

For many Juma youth, once they have found stability and confidence in their Juma job, it is time to start considering their next steps forward. For this stage, we saw a need for another new position: Education Coordinator. For young people who want to reconnect to higher education and further their career prospects, Jesus Ayala, Juma’s Education Coordinator, has been an invaluable support. Jesus worked with Abigail, a Juma youth, who, despite real barriers, has successfully enrolled in American River College to pursue an associates degree in business.

For Abigail, Juma has been a lifeline to stability at a time of turmoil. “Juma is a really good job for people who are trying to get paid and get serious about their work ethic,” Abigail explains. “Everyone has to start somewhere, and Juma is a great place for that.” At Juma, Abigail would hone her communication skills and work ethic while finding the safety and stability to start thinking about who she wanted to be. She was soon promoted to Youth Lead based on her growth, poise, and commitment to herself. 

But Abigail didn’t want to stop her growth simply by working at Juma’s stadium social enterprises. With her Education Coordinator’s support, she applied to FAFSA for student aid, submitted college applications, and met with her new school counselors to set up her class schedule after being admitted to American River College. Jesus and Abigail still meet regularly to ensure she stays on the right track–and she is currently on track to graduate next year with her Associate’s degree.

With the help of these two new positions in Sacramento, since 2022, we have doubled the rates of workshop completion, banking and direct deposit set-up, and post-Juma connection to higher-education and/or employment. More youth are staying engaged with Juma for longer as they receive deeper services and more support in removing barriers to success. We’ve leveraged this success to continue the growth of these two roles by adding dedicated funds for each position, to help pay for housing applications, transportation, college tours, education electronics and textbooks, and more, for the first time ever. We appreciate your support as Juma continues to expand and deepen supportive services for youth to ensure that every young person can achieve success.