Our Director of Development Gretchen Wilbrandt was recently featured in an article by Jan Willms for Monitor St. Paul covering various youth workers' ideas on how to help youth succeed. Monitor is a neighborhood paper covering Midway, Frogtown, and Como.
Photo by Terry Faust
Read an excerpt of Willms' article below:
Gretchen Wilbrandt has been the director of development and community engagement at Urban Boatbuilders since September. She has also been a teacher, a consultant, a PhD student, IT worker and with the Yacht Club. Urban Boatbuilders is a nonprofit in Saint Paul that teaches youth how to build boats through paid internships. ”I think everyone comes from a different situation, longing for a sense of community and support. We have fostered and developed that at Urban Boatbuilders,” she said. She remarked that the COVID generation wants a little bit more connection and wants to find ways to do that.
“We are looking to break down the silos between the nonprofit and for-profit industries,” Wilbrandt said. “We have a shortage of skilled workers, and we want to break down the wall between companies to let them know we are working to ensure we have employable youths. We want to determine our young people are socially and emotionally ready. Helping connect them to stable employment is our mission.” She said her agency and others are impactful by offering career readiness programs.
“We have been talking about having some events this summer,” Wilbrandt said. “There are so many nonprofits along University Avenue. We have talked about getting together for a meet and greet or an eat and greet, or a lunch and learn. There is so much collaboration to be done.”
Wilbrandt said one of the greatest challenges youth seeking employment face is lack of a car and driver’s license. “You need a job to pay for a car, but you need a car to get the job,” she stated. She said a large number of youth are challenged by that transportation barrier. She said one company in Minneapolis will pick up employees from their doorstep to take them to work while they are getting a driver’s license and car.
“The lack of affordable housing creates a lot of instability on all levels,” Wilbrandt added. “I can’t imagine coming out of college now with debt and looking for that first job and a place to live, and making ends meet.
“Young people are facing so many challenges,” Wilbrandt continued. “Personally, I think there needs to be a paradigm shift in society that honors others, with more equity and more people need to care more about others.” She cited COVID, global wars and a mental health crisis as stressors that can make young people feel hopeless. “We need to help people around us and we need micro-communities that blossom. We need to care about other people and give them a chance. We don’t want to remove chairs from the table, but bring in more chairs to the table.” She said there is a need for inclusive conversation, actual listening, a breaking down of White supremacy and White saviorism.
To read the entire article, click here.
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