The Work Readiness Enrichment Program

The Work Readiness Enrichment Program (“WREP”) is a collaboration between the Chatham County Juvenile Courts, the Savannah Chatham County Public School System, and Deep Center. It was created to reduce the number of youth being committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). At the time of its creation, Chatham County had twice the amount of court-involved youth as any other county in Georgia, including Fulton and Gwinnett—home to Atlanta, the most populous metro area in Georgia and the ninth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States. WREP serves male youth aged 14-16 who have seen chronic suspensions, are behind in school, and have a history of court involvement. 

“Aight y’all, give me one positive thing” 

But WREP is more than that. Walking into the Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., you’ll hear it: the thunderous bounce of basketballs echoing down the halls, tethered to voices yelling, “Pass it to me.” Daps, pounds, and other physical greetings better than handshakes bring comfort and familiarity.  To some, this would be classified as noise, but we know the difference between chaos and happiness. As the young men travel from the gym to the art room, where Deep holds workshops twice a week, their faces are drenched with sweat from activities that require bodily effort. For a while, they won’t adjust the volumes of their voices or their energy. Then, a single clap. One voice, calm and firm, in the room says, “Aight y’all, give me one positive thing that happened to you this weekend,” and with that, our life navigators begin their work.