Josh originally joined the employment program in 2015. Prior to becoming an intern, Josh was working for the city when he was unfortunately laid off. Down on his luck, Josh began his search for new employment.

Through cracks in the city’s concrete, wild plants grow. Local muralist Mona Caron has been memorializing these weeds lately – most recently on the front wall of the headquarters for local nonprofit New Door Ventures.

Larriesha Blay is one of the integral members helping everything at Ashbury Images run smoothly. Originally starting as an intern, she worked her way through the program.

We are getting ready for another run with Ashbury Images, and I thought that it is time to introduce Wade Walker, the general manager of Ashbury Images, who will give us the insider’s view of a company built on changing lives.

Wade Walker, General Manager, points out, “There are over 7,000 disconnected youth in SF alone. We just expanded into the Alameda county where there is over 40,000 disconnected youth. Every order placed is a donation back to our organization and leads to more opportunities for our youth. We are literally changing lives one order at a time.”

Tess Reynolds, Chief Executive Officer of New Door Ventures, discusses the challenges faced by disconnected youth and the life skills they need to learn in order to become successful contributors to their communities.

When Aliyah moved to the Bay Area from New York, she searched for a youth employment program to support her in putting her recently-earned high school diploma to use.

2016 Impact Report for New Door Ventures and its social enterprises, Ashbury Images and Pedal Revolution.

“If we are going to help underserved youth in America’s cities, we have to flip the equation,”

New Door Ventures helps at-risk youth get ready for work and life. These disconnected youth are at-risk for a number of negative outcomes, including substantial periods of unemployment, homelessness, involvement with the criminal justice system and poverty.

Curtis was looking for a fresh start and a consistent job when he learned about New Door Ventures. He found much more than a job when he started working at Ashbury Images, a nonprofit screen-printing business.

Tipping Point is a Bay Area nonprofit that helps find fund and support local organizations that help fight poverty. They are one of New Door Ventures and Ashbury Images sponsors and provide us with the resources we need to make a change in our community.