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Hope for Suffolk prides itself on being a different kind of internship program.

“We tell all of our interns we’re going to be different from any job that you ever work because we literally exist for you,” Nyasia Johnson, Hope for Suffolk program manager said. 

Hope for Suffolk is a youth development organization that hires 50 paid teenage interns to work on an organic vegetable farm. In addition to the farm work, teenagers participate in skill-building workshops such as learning how to change a tire, practicing interviews, learning conflict resolution and more.

Applications for this year’s internship cycle are open, with the seven-month program starting in March. With an extremely low-barrier application process, Executive Director Hayden Blythe said the selection process is not merit-based and depends on if the teen will be a good fit for the program.  

The organization is based in the Christian faith, but that is not a requirement for participants. Applicants are required to be at least 15 by March 1.  

Blythe said a lot of participants deal with social anxiety, many of them are on the autism spectrum, they often come from unstable homes, or they simply have big aspirations after high school and are looking for unique ways to build their resumes. 

“People who are neurodivergent, have learning differences, people who are from low access, low income, low resource communities or households, people who have had difficulties thriving in other places, we really want to be very accessible to them,” Blythe said. “That matters, and so that’s why our application process is wildly easy.”

A lot of their interns are first generation college students, Johnson said, so they will often help them with college applications and financial aid. She said they also assist people with buying their first car or getting their first job.

Johnson said it’s important for them to “empower youth who are struggling,” whether it be a physical, emotional, or mental struggle. She said the main things she looks for in applications is what their struggle is, and if they can truly be committed to following through with the entire program.

The agricultural part of the internship was an easy, cost effective, and therapeutic way to offer interns a unique and valuable experience, Blythe said. Everything is organically grown and the produce is sold through a farm share, where customers sign up for a subscription service to get a bag of fresh produce every week or every other week.

The interns grow a wide variety of crops, both those native to the area and ones that aren’t widely available in grocery stores. They grow normal veggies like squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, kale, garlic, peppers, spinach, grapes, blueberries, and figs. Blythe said they also grow a few Asian vegetables, like bok choy, moringa, and tatsoi.

“It turns out that growing food is really transformational and empowering and awesome,” Blythe said. “So it’s pretty therapeutic for our youth to be working outside, growing stuff, in addition to everything else.”

Hope for Suffolk uses a unique pay scale. Starting at $12.50 an hour, interns have the opportunity to complete daily check-off’s throughout their shift allowing them to make a maximum of $14 an hour for that day. 

This allows everyone to earn more based on productivity, while still making that higher pay accessible to those with learning disabilities or people who have less experience with agriculture.

Some check-off examples to get a pay bump include weeding your designated rows, harvesting your rows, and helping out with other projects on the farm. Interns earn a 50 cent pay bump for each of these tasks they accomplish, maxing out at $14.

Unfortunately, to help as many people as possible, Blythe said interns are only allowed to participate in the program once. However, if you graduate from the program, you can apply to be a team leader. Being selected for a team leader is merit-based, and comes with more responsibilities and hours.

Journey Booke and Kisten Holloway are two of this year’s six team leaders. Booke graduated from the internship program last year, and Holloway graduated during his sophomore year of high school.

Holloway said he heard about Hope for Suffolk through his grandmother, and is happy to have gone through the program. His biggest takeaways were learning money management skills and the importance of community involvement.

Booke also said the program was very “rewarding” for her and one of her goals was to create meaningful relationships.

Both Booke and Holloway said they wanted to come back to Hope for Suffolk because of the level of communication between everyone involved. Holloway wants to continue improving on his communication skills, and Booke said she misses the “lively” community Hope for Suffolk fosters.

In addition to the internship program, Blythe said they’re a support system for the families of the interns as well. They’ve helped families secure housing, they provide emergency financial assistance, and they’ve helped organize funerals.

In honor of a 2021 graduate, Hope for Suffolk started the Lauryn Leonard Memorial Scholarship after she passed away from a car accident last year. The scholarship is open to anyone who completed at least 80% of the internship and is to be used toward academics. 

“There is a hope for Suffolk because of the youth in our city,” Johnson said.