Connecting High School Students with Jobs in Health

A high school student helps one of the residents at the Jewish Home & Hospital for Aged.

Despite the rising unemployment rates, health services is one of the few fields in which jobs openings are plentiful, and as New York gets older, the demand for quality care for our elders will continue to rise. The Jewish Home & Hospital for Aged is a top geriatric and rehabilitation facility caring for 5,000 people of all racial and religious backgrounds each year.

With a 2009 $50,000 grant from The Trust, the Geriatric Career Development Program at JHHA is continuing to give disadvantaged youth an opportunity to develop valuable skills while providing supervised care and comfort to the elderly. Juniors from three Bronx high schools are participating in semester-long internships, receiving mentorship from staff, and go to seminars on clinical issues affecting the elderly. High school seniors in the second year of the program worked toward certification as EMTs, pharmacy assistants, and phlebotomists. In addition, the program is running PSAT and SAT prep classes and organize trips to local colleges for students that show the interest and aptitude for college.