The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center joins the Newark Youth Workforce Collaborative: The arts and trauma recovery center progresses on the path of workforce development

Newark, NJ—The Newark Youth Workforce Collaborative family tree is adding a new branch—The HUBB Arts and Trauma Center. In joining the Collaborative, the organization will receive support and mentorship from the Collaborative’s backbone—Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN)—to further establish the school-to-workforce pipeline through workforce development. As the backbone, NOYN works to support its partner programs with data, strategy and fundraising.

“Right now, we are one of the leading community-based violence intervention organizations in Newark with a youth-focused trauma recovery center. We’re training up our youth toward workforce development and are really looking at the arts and how the arts impact our youths’ lives,” said The HUBB’s Director of Programs, Data & Partnerships, Denisah Williamson. “Being a part of the Collaborative is giving us an opportunity to build ourselves up and fill some gaps [we have] in some areas.” 

Since 2006, The HUBB—which stands for “help us become better”— ATC has provided  programs involving video production, audio technology, entrepreneurship and financial literacy, which help propel youth into careers in the entertainment, arts and business industries. Programs such as My Thoughts Out Loud (MTOL), Rhymes4Reasons and Families Involved in Structured Transitions (FIST), open up pathways for healing and progress for all groups involved. Participants take eight-week intro-level courses in one of the above mentioned areas, and those with a deeper interest join an apprenticeship program in their desired field. 

According to Jasmine Joseph-Forman, Chief Program Officer at NOYN, this approach of combining workforce development with the arts is part of what makes the HUBB ATC’s addition to the Collaborative so innovative.

“The way in which The HUBB ATC utilizes the arts as part of youth development perfectly complements the more traditional education and job training services provided by other members of the Collaborative,” said Joseph-Forman. “By bringing together different youth-serving organizations, each with their own unique offering, we are able to strengthen the broader youth workforce development ecosystem throughout Newark.” 

Most recently, The HUBB ATC hosted “Heal the Block” block parties on eight violent hotspots in Newark. The organization partnered with the Summer Youth Employment Program to have trained youth staff that perform with signed artists and produce live podcasts, photography and videography content. 

“It's impactful because not only are we showing these youth entrepreneurship and different ways to create revenue, we're also showing their families, ‘hey, we created this new skill set,’” said Williamson. “We're actually changing lives in real-time and are able to capture it. So it's exciting.” 

It’s success stories like this that The HUBB ATC wants to replicate throughout every ward in Newark - and the interagency partnerships forged through the Collaborative will be instrumental in achieving that.

Chief Executive Officer and Founder of The HUBB ATC, Al-Tariq Best added, “We’re excited about the opportunity to learn from others in the Collaborative and to utilize the best practices and resources necessary to help us expand The HUBB ATC’s impact. We are all working together to achieve the same goal—helping our young people overcome obstacles and achieve success.”

To learn more about The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center, visit their website at www.thathubblife.org.