We are so grateful for our wonderful partners at Assurant who have gone above and beyond in providing our teens with incredible opportunities to explore their professional passions and practice their networking skills, as well as experiences that they will remember for a long time!
Assurant Career Day
In the past couple of months, Assurant has truly outdone themselves in supporting our YELLS youth through their own volunteer initiatives! A few amazing Assurant volunteers really have adopted YELLS, and they have brought to life some incredible ideas to make a lasting impact for our youth. This fall Assurant organized and hosted a Career Day specifically for YELLS teens where they were invited to chat with employees from various departments and learn more about what it’s like working at Assurant! They truly are a company that invests in their employees and empowers them to give back. Jill Heibult, Rosa Ortiz, and Tonya Lowmon have blown us away by their commitment to our organization and their passion that mobilizes so many others to support our youth as well. This was a highly beneficial networking opportunity for our YELLS teens and Assurant did their part in making this custom-designed event fun and meaningful for our youth!
“They opened up their doors and allowed our students to be able to have a world class experience by going into a Fortune 500 global company – they are global, they are worldwide,” said Monica Freeman, our Director of Programs. “They gave our students an in depth look into what Assurant is and how Assurant helps people, even down to T Mobile, their phones and their insurance.
Our students learned that once they graduate high school at 18 they can walk in and get a job at Assurant,” Monica continued. “Assurant hires students right out of high school, you don’t even need a degree because they train you on-site. So a lot of our students were very excited about that opportunity.”
The level of support and investment that Assurant showed our teens at this event cannot be overstated. Their employees were genuinely interested in getting to know our teens and helping them explore the career paths that interest them the most! Even beyond acquiring a job after high school, those shared conversations and connections empower our youth and give them the confidence to pursue their own paths in life. And if that wasn’t enough, Assurant also had Chick-fil-A sponsor the event by providing lunch for our teens! By the end of the day, our teens walked away full of ideas for their future, and also bags full of Assurant swag!
Assurant and United Way Campaign Kickoff
A month after their career day, Assurant held a Jamboree supporting United Way of Greater Atlanta’s annual campaign, and YELLS was invited to share our story of how we have served the youth of Franklin Gateway. Assurant and United Way of Greater Atlanta’s annual campaign kickoff event was located at the Ponce City Market rooftop in Midtown Atlanta, and we saw it as an excellent opportunity to send our Community Action Cafe teens to represent our organization!
“Our students were the representatives of YELLS at the event, and this was an amazing experience for our youth,” Ms. Monica said. “None of our youth had ever been on top of Ponce City Market. A lot had never even seen the skyline of Atlanta. So the experience of that alone really made a difference within their lives.”
Our teens spoke from the heart about their experiences growing up on Franklin Gateway and finding their place at YELLS, and it was clear that they resonated with many in the audience. When they got off the stage, they got to further practice their networking skills by connecting with professionals from around the nonprofit world with the sun setting on the Atlanta skyline behind them.
The cherry on top of Assurant’s continued support of YELLS came the very next day when Assurant employees assembled literacy snack packs for our youth! Last year, as part of a volunteer engagement initiative for their employees, Assurant provided our youth with awesome STEAM kits that they could work on during the holiday break, and this year Assurant focused on promoting literacy and healthy snacks. All in all they made 100 bags for our youth to take home!
In sum, we could not be more grateful for Assurant’s consistent and genuine investment into our youth. Our mission has always been to uplift our teens and equip them with the skills to make meaningful change in their community, and Assurant has undoubtedly aided us in this endeavor.
Thank you for the Spotlight! We have loved working with the YELLS team and kids and look forward to partnering with you for more great events in 2023.