ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
From left, designer Michael Frechet, Selvin Chambers, executive director of Root, Jennifer Eddy, founder of Root and Sam Hunt, master chef, look at plans for the new kitchen at 35 Congress St. in Salem.
Selvin Chambers II grew up in Cambridge not knowing he was poor with a mother who told him again and again to not let his circumstances define him.
Freshly named as the director of ROOT, Inc., Chambers is ready to pass that message onto at-risk teenagers from Lynn and surrounding communities. The not-for-profit social enterprise organization is launching a training, job skills building and mentoring program next spring with the goal of working with 60 teens a year.
Chambers said teens 16 to 24 years old struggle to become employable and capable of developing the basic skills required to make a living and be productive citizens. True to its name, ROOT plans to help teens set down deep roots that will anchor them on a productive path into adulthood.
The alternative, warned Chambers, is rootlessness and the risk of taking a path that leads to substance abuse and violence.
“Stats,” he said, “don’t lie. If you’re not employed, you get in trouble and maybe even go to jail.”
ROOT is building out its Salem culinary arts training facility where teens will have the opportunity to learn to work in a commercial kitchen and learn cafe operation and catering skills.
Chambers said the training is oriented around helping teens develop long-term and short-term work goals. The program will focus on teaching participants to work as a team and it will also strip away the glamour associated with restaurant work.
The industry’s reality is hard work, rigorous employment standards and tough hours. Getting trained from the ground up in culinary and service work gives teens, Chambers said, a leg up on jobs and a chance to build a solid foundation of discipline and solid work habits.
ROOT founder Jennifer Eddy drew inspiration for ROOT literally from around the world, including a visit to an overseas orphanage and a program in New Orleans similar to ROOT. Chambers said ROOT hopes to attract Latino youth and work with organizations in Lynn and neighboring communities to identify prospective program participants.
Program coordinators want to work with teens who are paired up with mentors but ROOT will help teens find mentors.
Youth programs often focus on helping teens who are in trouble or who have dropped out of school or even spent time in jail. Other programs try to catch kids early and instill good habits. ROOT is combining both goals in hopes of setting teens on a straight and narrow path before circumstances and bad influences lead them astray.