It is hard to believe that Summer 2026 has come to a close! This summer through the Milford Youth Center’s partnership with Mass Hire and The Commonwealth Corporation, we were able to employ 18 eligible youths around the town of Milford. Throughout their time in the program, the youth were exposed to what it’s like to have a job, participated in job readiness programming every week, and sat in on presentations and field trips about different community members’ journeys through their education and careers. It has been an amazing summer seeing these youth workers thrive at their job sites and grow as individuals. We are sad to see the summer program come to an end but are extremely proud of our youth and the growth they made this summer.
Week 5 YouthWorkers’ finished most of their modules and took a cooking class with our amazing friend Carly from Fit In Fitness! Carly showed the youth an easy, nutritious and budget-friendly meal that anyone can make! Jazzy and Cam won additional gift cards for completing MyFriendBen and Emmanuel from Parks was our YouthWorker of the week!
The last official week of our program started off with a presentation from Aaron Anniballi of We All Hoop, also one of their year’s worksites! He had one of his coaches andclients come in to demonstrate a workout while Aaron explained the business side of his company. Aaron grew up in Milford and can relate with a lot of the youth in our program, he is also an amazing example of how hard work and determination can pay off, especially when launching a small business. Then the group took a trip over to Rail Trail Flatbread Company in Milford. There the youth learned all the ins 
and outs of the restaurant business! Their day ended with pizza from Rail trails, receiving their school resource bags, and getting ice cream from the Ice Box Trailer!
A big thank you to our worksites: Milford Parks Department, Milford Town Library, Milford Youth Center, We All Hoop, Bob’s Marina and Sweet Inspirations for their willingness to participate and their dedication to the program! Without you, we wouldn’t have as successful of a program as we do!
We would also like to thank all the presenters and companies who took time out of their busy schedules to come and share their experiences with our youth! A big part of this program is to help our youth workers get ready for what comes next after high school, whether that be college, a trade school, or entering the job force. These presenters shared their life experiences, their roads to success, and why they love the jobs that they have. Many of our presenters and companies explained to our youth about the value in persevering and understanding you might not always know what you want to do just yet and that’s ok! 
Lastly, we would like to thank all the youth that participated this summer! We could not have a program without you! This summer has been a journey of first jobs, new jobs, learning about different opportunities, self-growth, and mentorship. We are so proud of how far all of you have come! We are so grateful to have this program and are excited to be able to host it again next summer!
Thank you all for your commitment to the program and helping foster a place for youth to learn and be successful in our Milford Community! Click here to see CommCorps’ article highlighting our YouthWorker Antoniyo!
To see July’s Youthworks recap click here!