'Earn & Learn' youth employment program ends for the summer in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee marked the end of its annual summer employment program for young people on Wednesday, Aug. 18.

It is called "Earn & Learn" and this year, it gave more than 1,200 teens a chance to make a little money and find out what it is like to have a job.

There were 84 work sites and some were even virtual.

With schools reopening, the program is ending for the summer, but for some of the participants, new doors are opening.

"Even now, we have groups still recruiting young people to have a positive experience year 'round," Chytania Brown, Employ Milwaukee, said. "So now that summer is over with, they're recruiting young people. The Bucks is here recruiting young people to work. We also have the Boys and Girls Club."

The Earn and Learn program started 16 years ago. This year, the city used almost $4 million dollars from its share of the federal economic stimulus package to pay for it.