PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Kids in Portsmouth have something to celebrate as summer winds down: they're getting paid.
Eugene Swinson co-founder of Big H.O.M.I.E.S. Community Outreach talked a group of roughly 75 kids Sunday. He, the Portsmouth Police Department and other community leaders are proud of the kids' summer work keeping their Southside, Dale Homes, and London Oaks neighborhoods clean.
"[We were] picking up things like people that's been littering. Picking up trash and stuff," explained Somaya Jones, Portsmouth.
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"So how did you feel when you were doing that?" asked News 3 reporter Erika Craven.
"It felt normal because that's the thing you're supposed to do in your community," said Jones.
The kids spent six weeks building up their communities and themselves.
"You can interact with people, you get more friends. Instead of fighting, shooting. Instead of fighting and shooting you can be chilling, working and getting more money," a group of teens told News 3.
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"[We] wanted to give them an incentive to make it to the weekend, or even make it out of the summer. You know, a lot of violence or problems the kids have with idle time in the summer time and the fact they had something to look forward to on the weekend, to me, was part of the way they kept themselves safe. Like, alright I gotta work this weekend, I can't be doing whatever. It was good," said Swinson.
Sunday the kids saw real results.
"It was kind of twofold, threefold. For them to take pride in their neighborhoods because they actually got paid to clean their own neighborhoods up. One to show them to work for their money. And another part was to take the burden off maybe some of the parents and the kids because they pretty much made money to go to school with," said Swinson. "They can buy their own school clothes, some of that extra stuff they might need but parents maybe can't afford they can buy it themselves. It's a good program."
And how do the kids feel about getting a paycheck?
"I feel good," smiled Carlos Harris, Portsmouth
They already have a goal in mind.
"Spend it on my back to school clothes," said Jones.
This was the first year organizers ran the summer work program, but they're hoping to continue it every quarter.
