The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
This summer, Emmanuel Haynes worked towards his dream of owning his own funeral home and helping families in their hardest and saddest times by interning at the Ronald Jones Funeral Chapel.
Emmanuel Haynes is being honored as a Youth Jobs+ Champion of Change.
My name is Emmanuel RaShad Haynes and I am a 12th grade student in the St. Louis, Missouri Public School System. I am the fourth of five children born to Timothy and Renee Haynes. I am a determined young man who hopes to become an entrepreneur and establish myself as a productive United States citizen.
In an effort to reach my goal, I sought out summer employment opportunities. My school put out flyers that showed zip codes in which students could participate in these types of programs. I then followed the necessary steps and obtained the opportunity of my lifetime. When I was asked at the orientation which career choice I would like to experience, I selected funeral director. The case managers at Mers Goodwill were able to find me a placement at a funeral home and when the owner of Ronald Jones Funeral Chapel agreed to allow me to be the only intern I was elated. The biggest question I was asked was, are you afraid? My answer was no becauseI want to own a funeral home someday and have the opportunity to help families at one of the hardest and saddest times in their life. It meant really seeing how the drugs and senseless killings were hurting a lot of young men and women in my neighborhood and how it affected their families and friends. This experience allowed me the opportunity to on a daily basis put on a suit and tie and display professionalism in difficult and nerve racking situations.
Through this opportunity I was able to go behind the scenes and experience the business side of the funeral home. I learned why it is important to have life insurance and how death can and does leave a burden on your loved ones. It is also important to have a vision and a plan for your life, and I am now determined to beat the statistics usually associated with the other youth of inner city North St. Louis, and I will not go to prison. In May of 2014 I will graduate from Carnahan High School of the Future and then attend college with a major in Mortuary Science. It is also my dream to work closely with my father to establish a Youth Center at our Church to create programs that will assist with living skills as well as training that will help them to select college majors easily instead of spending too much time trying to decide. The Outta Love Christian Baptist Church in St. Louis, MO is my church home, where we live by the slogan, “Everything We do We Do it Outta Love, and Outta Love is How We Do”. I would like to thank everyone involved for this opportunity and I am going to help others in my future career, “Outta Love.” I will also like to thank St. Louis Youth Jobs and Mers goodwill case worker Ms. Shakema for all her hard work and determination to help my sister, myself, and others. President Obama, thank you for believing in youth like myself so that we do see change. As a Champion of Change I declare that I will continue to fight to assist other youth to make changes in their lives.
Emmanuel Haynes is a 12th grade student from St. Louis, MO and is currently attending Carnahan High School of The Future. He participated in the Mers Goodwill St. Louis Youth Jobs Program as a Funeral Director at Ronald Jones Funeral Chapels.
