The “BEST” in our title stands for Building Excellence through Service and Training. The goals of our program are: (1) to give young people from public housing an opportunity to experience work in the public and private sectors and (2) to challenge them to grow professionally and personally from a structured employment program that includes community service and youth leadership principles.

Each year hundreds of District youth from public housing spend their summer either unemployed or at a job that does not provide any real growth or exposure to the job market. DCHA believes that it is important to expose young people to real world experiences early and prepare them for the next phase of their life. These real world experiences build character, self-esteem and responsibility.

DCHA pays the wages for all of the participants in the program. There is no cost to a business or agency to host a DYB participant. However, in the past, some agencies have opted to sponsor participants without DCHA financial support. DCHA does request that host agencies provide adequate supervision so that by the end of the summer, the participant will have a sound understanding of what it’s like to have job responsibilities and pay. We expect our participants to be professional and punctual. This program will be the first real job experience for many of our participants. We expect our host agencies to provide structure, supervision and allow the participants to learn the necessary skills to complete their work and maintain employment.