First Lady Mary Perdue Congratulates TeenWork Participants

More than 400 Foster Teens Benefit from Summer Jobs Program

ATLANTA- Today First Lady Mary Perdue congratulated more than 400 Georgia foster teens who successfully completed the Teen Work summer jobs program. The TeenWork program is a summer program offering employment opportunities to teens in foster care.

"We have been presented with countless stories of bright, capable foster teens who were given the opportunity to succeed in an employment situation and rose to that challenge" said First Lady Mary Perdue. "Today we are thrilled to recognize their success and are full of pride and inspiration to see such achievement."

Participants of the program learned basic job skills such as how to apply for a job, interview skills and proper business attire. A pre-employment training session offered each participant an opportunity to learn more about work ethics and time management. Thirty-five state agencies joined private corporations such as Coca-Cola, Chick-Fil-A and Waffle House to offer hundreds of summer jobs benefiting Georgia foster teens ages 14 to 21.

" TeenWork offers hope for children and promotes a healthy independence" said

Commissioner B.J. Walker. "We hope to build on our successes and grow from our beginnings in order to help Georgia 's children to live better, safer and fuller lives."

TeenWork was created in April 2005 by The First Lady's Children's Cabinet. The program equips foster teens throughout Georgia with marketable skills and a supportive mentoring experience that benefits both the employee and employer.

The TeenWork program is a project of the First Lady's Children's Cabinet. More information        regarding the TeenWork Program can be found at http://teenwork.dhr.georgia.gov .