Hopeworks in Camden Helps Young People Heal
The organization provides real-world training for individuals who survived childhood trauma.
Originally published on New Jersey Monthly
Nearly two-thirds of adults experienced one major stressor during childhood. Camden children experience an average of five. It’s a statistic that Hopeworks, a Camden youth-development organization, knows well.
Three local churches started Hopeworks in 1999 to train high school dropouts in computer skills. The nonprofit has evolved to offer day-training programs in web design and geographic information system mapping, internships, academic support and job coaching—all in a trauma-informed setting. The nonprofit works with up to 115 youths, aged 16 to 25, at a time.
“The whole point of the program is to get people off the streets,” says Semaj Sullivan, 18, a recent Camden Academy Charter High School graduate who will attend Rutgers–Camden this fall, “and it keeps you off the streets because you’re here from nine to four.”
