By Sammy Caiola, CapRadio, February 12, 2020
A repurposed elementary school in South Sacramento served as a hang-out space for dozens of middle and high schoolers on Saturday morning. They danced, checked in with neighborhood leaders and played life-sized table games such as Jenga and Connect Four. Around the room, nonprofit groups and private employers sat at tables to discuss job opportunities.
These “community pop-ups”, as organizers call them, offer low-income teens a place to spend time when they’re not at school, often with access to mentors, job help and other resources.
They’re funded in part by $2.6 million from the Measure U sales tax, which voters approved to raise by a half cent in 2018. Mayor Darrell Steinberg argued for spending some of the money on job readiness programs for youth of color, and community groups pushed for more investment in Oak Park, Del Paso Heights, Meadowview and other low-income neighborhoods north and south of downtown.
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