MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee cafe is helping teens gain valuable work experience through a partnership that provides sustainable funding and guidance.
15-year-old Chelianays Rivera recently started working as a barista at the Newline Community Cafe on Milwaukee's southwest Side, where she's learning essential job skills in a supportive environment.
"I feel like I want to learn new experiences and I can't keep being scared and not learn how to do new things," Rivera said.
The six-month barista position is part of a workforce development program operated through a partnership between Escuela Verde, a local charter school, and the nonprofit United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee (UNCOM).
Like many first jobs, Rivera's position comes with a learning curve and occasional mistakes, like spilling drinks. But that's all part of the educational experience.
"I learn, like, teamwork is a lot in a job because you, like, help each other a lot when you guys are making drinks," Rivera said.
I can completely relate to the spilled drink. It reminds me of me when I was a busboy and I spilled glasses and drinks and broke plates. The only difference is that this is more of a classroom environment, and Rivera is a student. Better to do it at Newline Community Cafe than at another job.
UNCOM offers a variety of resources to the community. Regarding the job training, it has two programs: in-school and out-of-school. The in-school job training means that teenagers are working part-time and going to school. Jaime Gonzalez, Program Manager at United Neighborhood Centers of Milwaukee, emphasized that the program's convenient locations are designed to support students' education. UNCOM doesn't want to detract from studying.
"(It's) all done without having to travel too far from school, so their studies are not really hindered in any kind of way," Jaime Rivera said.
While Newline Community Cafe previously had a version of this job program, the partnership with UNCOM provides more consistent funding and enhanced guidance for participants.
Watch as Milwaukee's teen baristas gain real-world work experience through innovative cafe partnership...
"For a lot of the grants, it's just a one-time grant. It's not very sustainable, and UNCOM is very sustainable, and it's something that we can continue year after year," Monica Beltran, Newline Community Cafe Manager, said.
This sustainable approach means more opportunities for students like Chelianays Rivera, who has clear career aspirations beyond her barista training.
"My dream is to become a real estate agent after I graduate high school," Rivera said.
This story was reported on-air by James Groh and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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