What are Re-Engagement Hubs and how are they helping Middle Tennessee's young adults?

Over the past ten years, while Nashville-Davidson County has had unprecedented growth, we have also seen staggering growth in the number of disconnected young adults across the region. These young people, defined by the United States Department of Labor as Opportunity Youth, are not connected to meaningful education or employment that leads to growth in position or wages. A collaborative was created in 2018 to begin to work toward identifying those who needed help to re-engage in education and work. To that end, and with the help of a federal grant from VOCA and partnerships with agencies and providers across the community, Opportunity NOW partnered with the Martha O’Bryan Center and Monroe Harding to open two Re-Engagement Hubs for youth and young adult services. The Hubs were created to provide a system of support for the more than 9,000 16-to-24-year-olds in Davidson County who are out of work and out of school. Given the current crisis, there are more youth and young adults than ever dealing with new challenges and fewer resources.

These Re-Engagement Hubs are a one-stop shop designed to empower young adults by offering peer-to-peer engagement, coaching, and coordinated service delivery to help young people reconnect to education and/or employment. They offer a variety of services and resources including career development, employability skills development, financial literacy, and mentorship. Both Re-Engagement Hubs provide employment support identifying potential career pathways, finding open positions, completing job applications, revising or creation of resumes, and interview tips. The Hubs provide peer support by employing young adults with lived in experience and work strategically to connect clients with supportive services and resources like finding safe housing, reliable transportation, and addressing food insecurity.

The Opportunity NOW Re-engagement Hub Team works to not only address the increase in emergency needs, but also new challenges that emerge related to digital access and competency, supportive services, educational programs, and employment resources. To respond to these needs, the Re-Engagement Hubs are working to develop coordinated outreach to disconnected young people who would not normally reach out for assistance, developing a broader referral network to address the increasing needs, and data-driven solutions to help young people connect to the world digitally so they can pursue their goals. This requires providing wrap-around services to increase the likelihood of success and ultimately, re-engagement with their economic potential.

The Re-Engagement Hubs opened just a few short weeks before the Nashville Tornado and COVID-19 pandemic. They had to pivot quickly to move services into a virtual platform and make plans to connect a group of people who were already at risk with even more resources to support them during this time. Martha O’Bryan and Monroe Harding have risen to the challenge. This rise includes peer-support workers continuing their outreach, even though many are also struggling with some of the same issues as the people they are assisting.

Opportunity NOW Re-Engagement Hubs continue to serve 16-to-24-year-old Opportunity Youth in Davidson County. The Re-Engagement Hubs are located in East and North Nashville, but are open to young adults from any part of the city. If you, or someone you know, need to connect with the services of the Re-Engagement Hubs, please complete the simple Opportunity NOW Re-Engagement Hubs Referral Form and a coach will reach out to them directly with the next steps!

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