Giving Guide 2018

1 R Special Advertising Section | SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2018 11 Juma strives to break the cycle of poverty by paving the way to work, education, and financial capability for youth across America. Visit www.juma.org to learn more. Just shy of high school graduation, Xavier Wade dropped out of school. “Dumbest decision I ever made,” the now 20-year-old says. “Nothing works out for you when you do that. I learned from my mis- takes.” His first lesson? How hard it is to find work without so much as a high school diploma. At the time, Xavier was one of the nearly 24,000 youth in King County who are currently not in school and not working. They lack the resources, skills and confi- dence needed to successfully transition to adulthood. Unless they get training and support to overcome these barriers, they will remain trapped in a cycle of poverty. Xavier worked graveyard shifts at a big box store. “At that hour, no one wants to talk about anything. Every- one just wants to get the job done and leave.” His fel- low co-workers did tell him one thing: “Don’t stay here. There’s so much more you can do.” Looking back at a time when he admits that he’d given up on the world, he says, “Other people actually saw my potential.” That led him to enroll in a G.E.D. program where he learned about Juma, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides employment to young people so they can get training and experience while building job skills, as well as the opportunity to connect with education and career pathways. Xavier says Juma “helped me learn about handling responsibility.” For one thing, working at CenturyLink Field required a long two-hour bus commute, demand- ing time management and commitment. He worked with Juma, continued his G.E.D. and, through the Juma program, he participated in workshops as well as an internship. “I went from a couple of years of struggle to a few months of learning new skills that I will have the rest of my life,” Xavier says. “Juma gave me the opportu- nity to do more with my life.” And with his newly added work skills and experiences, Xavier received two separate offers of full-time em- ployment and is now four months into his new job at Costco, one of Juma’s Seattle partners. “Juma,” he says, “taught me how to work.”In addition to Twin Creeks Village, Habitat Snohomish is raising money to buy land to build 20 more homes by the end of 2017, with plans to complete 50 homes by 2023. By guest author, Juma Ventures From ‘years of struggle’ to a new life of opportunity PROVIDED BY JUMA VENTURES Xavier Wade, left, is interviewed by former Seattle Sounders FC great Roger Levesque during Juma’s 2017 annual event. www.juma.org Juma is a social enterprise that employs young people so they can earn a paycheck, learn to manage their money, gain essential job skills and connect with education and career pathways that will lead to economic stability. Since 2013 we have employed more than 550 youth from Seattle’s underserved communities who have earned more than $1.5MM in wages.