C.L.E.A.N. Holds Skills Workshop To Prepare Students For Summer Jobs

By Melissa Spellman
Staff Reporter
New Journal and Guide

The organization C.L.E.A.N. Citizens Learning and Educating About Neighborhoods recently hosted a two-day job skills workshop for students ages 16 to 21 at the Berkley Recreation Center in Norfolk. C.L.E.A.N. is a youth mentoring program that nurtures leadership skills and encourages educational excellence, serving the Berkley, Campostella, and surrounding areas of Norfolk. Anthony Daniels is the founder and Executive Director of C.L.E.A.N.

Daniels is a native of Norfolk, and an Army Veteran. He left the area only to return 30 years later. Daniels retired from the City of Norfolk, Department of Utilities after 26 years of service as Engineer Tech I.  “We are here to serve the youth in the community. Our goal and mission are to be a positive influence for the youth, lead them in the right direction, and build their self-confidence” said Daniels.

Over the past 18 years, C.L.E.A.N., in partnership with the Beacon Light Civic League, has given out over $40,000 in scholarships to students living in the Berkley and Southside communities. C.L.E.A.N. has impacted hundreds of youths through field trips and educational activities. In 2006, C.L.E.A.N.’s first field trip to Camp Young took 45 youth on a three-day overnight stay. Other trips have included Washington D.C., visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. statue, the African-American Museum, the Richmond Capitol Building, New York, and Atlanta.

Daniels founded C.L.E.A.N. after tragedy struck his family on June 5, 2005, where his nephew Amol Bilal was fatally shot and killed in the Ocean View area of Norfolk. This sparked a fire inside Daniels to create C.L.E.A.N. and bring change to his community.  His vision was to address the concerns of residents who no longer felt safe in their neighborhoods and create programs to help the youth develop into productive citizens.

Such programs include the job skills workshop, an annual activity to prepare students to apply for paid summer internships in various departments within the City of Norfolk. The summer internships will run from June 2024 to August 2024 and are a part of the Norfolk Emerging Leaders (NEL) initiative.

The job skills workshop teaches about resume writing and completing a job application. Students learn how to dress for an interview and they participate in mock interviews. Guest speakers also offer students advice on entering the workplace and encouragement to go above and beyond while putting their best foot forward. Guest speakers for the 2024 job skills workshop were Norfolk Councilman John “J.P.” Paige, Norfolk Chief of Police Mark Talbot, and Assistant Chief Michele Naughton.

Councilman Paige said his first job was washing cars for a driving school. “I didn’t realize what that job did for me then. I didn’t make a lot of money, but it developed a work ethic. Until this day I have a motto that no one will ever outwork me,” said Paige.

Chief of Police Talbot talked about his childhood and first job with the students. “My first job was at McDonald’s between my junior and senior year of high school. My work ethic did not develop yet at that point in life, so I was late to work on several occasions. I was still trying to get myself to the point where I could show up on time,” he said.

Chief Tabolt shared his lack of pleasantries toward authority figures growing up. “As a young man I had a lot of struggles with listening to grown men because frankly my dad wasn’t around as a child.” Although Tabolt had an older brother, at age 13 or 14 he felt like the man of the house.

“When I went to get this first job, my first boss was a man, I had a real tough time adapting to that,” he said. “He would tell me how to do the job and everything that he said to me I felt like it was insulting and demeaning. As I look back, I recognize that it wasn’t him being insulting, it’s that I didn’t feel like I was full inside” explained Talbot. He would ultimately lose the McDonald’s job.

A young Talbot’s second job was welding truck frames, a job he said was much harder than McDonald’s. He told students, “That second job experience is where I would come to recognize that there are people in my life trying to guide me in the right direction.”

Assistant Chief Michele Naughton said her first job was at Toys-R-Us making $4.25 an hour. She told students that she keeps a paycheck from that time to remind herself that she started from the bottom; now she’s here.

Councilman Paige offered student’s these final words: “When we prepare ourselves life becomes less stressful. You might not know what you want to do, but employment will also show you what you don’t want to do, until you find what you want to do, and that is just as important.”

C.L.E.A.N. is always in need of male and female mentors and volunteers. If you want to volunteer or to learn more about C.L.E.AN programs and activities visit www.clean-youth,org, call (757) 816-6604, or email jcleand2@gmail.com.