Seventeen year old New York State PROMISE student, Jennifer is an ambitious young woman who is following her dream of owning her own restaurant. With the help of Promise she has been able to create a resume, develop interviewing skills, and become more independent. Jennifer has been working for the past several years in the restaurant business, and is now learning advanced culinary skills in school. Jennifer is excited about her future.

Eighteen-year-old New York State PROMISE student, Hassan, is passionate about animals and informing people about them. His dream is to become a zookeeper or zoologist. With the help of PROMISE, Hassan has had paid and volunteer work experiences at the Aquarium of Niagara. He has made such an impression that the aquarium wants to bring Hassan onto its payroll on a permanent basis.

17-year-old PROMISE student Ajanae has been wanting to work since she was 14 years old. Ajanae is extremely motivated. Promise Community Employment Specialist Kandese McCullough has been mentoring her and has helped Ajanae build her resume and make connections in her community. Ajanae is now working at Five Below through a PROMISE-sponsored paid work experience which could lead to Five Below directly hiring her in the future. Kandese and Ajanae have done a lot of work leading up to this point of working in the real world.

Nineteen year-old PROMISE student, Evalisse, is working two jobs and going to school full time. PROMISE staff helped get her into the world of work through summer youth employment a few years ago. She is using each of her job experiences and college classes to develop valuable skills that are helping to open up new doors for advancement. Evalisse has a desire to help others and to work since she was in high school, where she was a teachers aide. She assisted teachers and the principle, perform clerical tasks and stay organized.

New York City PROMISE student Destiny-Rae has a busy schedule between working four to five days a week and going to college to pursue her passion of working in the criminal justice field. Every one of her volunteer and work experiences have allowed Destiny-Rae to develop new skills that have helped her mature and will aid in her success in the future.

Parents of PROMISE youth in New York City will have an opportunity to take part in parent support groups next year. The goal is to help families prepare for the future as students transition to adulthood while PROMISE is phasing out.

Eighteen-year-old New York State PROMISE student Amaya is excited that she has earned her first paycheck over the summer. Amaya has both short- and long-term goals that PROMISE is helping her to achieve. Shes proud of graduating from high school and is ready to take the next steps in both employment and schooling.

16 year-old New York State PROMISE student Malcolm has a promising future in the performing arts sector. This past summer he was hired to be an actor by an independent movie company and is also a talented singer and performer. PROMISE has connected him with professional development opportunities to further his budding career in the midst of his health challenges. PROMISE is also helping Malcoms entire family prepare for the future.

Over the past five years about 2000 students have been enrolled in New York State PROMISE, which is a research study designed to help determine the most effective ways to help youth successfully transition to adulthood. Half of the youth have been in a control group and the other half are in an intervention group that received a targeted set of core services. On September 30 of this year, New York State PROMISE staff will no longer follow-up with families in the control group, although national evaluators will. These families will also continue to have access to all of the services and supports that New York State has to offer outside of PROMISE. The PROMISE team wants to thank the control group for its participation.

It has been more than a year since 17 year-old Zanaya was hired at Do the Twist pretzel shop at Green Acres Mall in Queens. New York State PROMISE played an intricate part in Zanayas success, including helping her scout out the job, preparing her for the interview and working on her people-skills. Zanaya has exceeded everyones expectations and is excited about going to college in the future to pursue her passion.