The City of Portland hired 68 people ages 16 to 20 to work in its Summer Youth Employment Program beginning July 5. Earning Oregon’s minimum wage of $7.50 an hour, the youth — many of whom attend outer East Portland high schools — will work 27 hours weekly for eight weeks while assigned to various city offices, including police and fire departments and Portland Parks & Recreation.

While Portland Public Schools (PPS) is the youth employment program’s vendor, PPS subcontracted to the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO). A nonprofit located in outer Northeast Portland, IRCO assists refugees and immigrants in adjusting to American society.

IRCO recruited the applicants for the Summer Youth Employment Program, held orientations and selected 68 youth out of the 200 applications that poured in. Only 68 youth employment slots were budgeted this year by the city, two less than Portland funded last year.

The employment program focuses on providing on-the-job learning opportunities for minority, immigrant and refugee youth.

“It’s open enrollment, but a lot of the youth are African, Russian, Asian Pacific Islanders and, this year, a lot of Latinos,” said Jenny Crawford, IRCO Program Manager. “There’s a huge demand for it.”

The goal of the program is to help motivate young people toward rewarding careers. IRCO also provides additional career guidance to other young clients, a total of 1,200 accessing its various youth services provided at the outer Northeast Portland center.

“They say, ‘I want a job,’ and we say, ‘You know what? You have to finish school first,’ ” Crawford said. “We tutor them to get a real job, not just a fast food job.”

When problems arise in the employment program, for example, if a young hire unwittingly dresses inappropriately for work, IRCO will advise the youth accordingly. In the refugee community IRCO serves, some young people grapple with more hardships than others.

“We’re seeing kids in the country for six and seven years now and still facing economic, cultural and other barriers,” Crawford said, “and some of the kids born in this country are still dealing with language barriers because their parents don’t speak English.”

Adjustment to a new country often involves behavioral dilemmas, especially when emigrating from a country that encourages cultural values differing significantly from those of mainstream America.

“I see a lot of issues with our African kids,” Crawford observed. “There are different religious and gender views. Sometimes, for instance, the girls are not allowed to attend gym class.”

And, sometimes, a single refugee mother with eight or nine children arrives here alone because her husband was killed or still resides in her native country.

“Many of our kids move around a lot,” Crawford said.

Despite the obstacles youth face when their families move to the United States, many do find stability, opportunity and good jobs, with the help of agencies like IRCO and programs like Portland’s summer youth employment.

“These kids are incredibly resilient,” Crawford said. “They’ve been through things I can’t even imagine.”