Meet Refresh Collective’s Fresh Force, a Y.O.U. Summer Jobs Program

Sep 20

Summer Jobs Teen, Marc, editing his song in the studio at Refresh Collective.

Wednesday, September 19, 2023

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Refresh Collective Fresh Force, a summer job program, a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below. Refresh Collective’s Fresh Force is one jobsite for Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.). Y.O.U. is a nonprofit workforce development organization that provides summer jobs opportunities to teens in the region.

Hi, Refresh Collective. Really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
The Refresh Collective Fresh Force summer job program attracts teens who are generally creative or are passionate about making a difference. Through these activities of artistic self-exploration, Refresh Collective nurtures the next generation of change makers.

The Fresh Force teens find their purpose in creativity and art. They channel their energy by writing songs and music through lyric writing, music production, visual arts, and general collaborative projects.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Refresh Collective has reached over 10,000 students since our founding in 2010. We are in seven Ohio public high schools. This year, we built a recording studio at the Cleveland Clinic. Our recent performances have taken place at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Browns stadium. The Fresh Force students created a full length album with 14 tracks. It has over 10,000 streams on SoundCloud. You can hear the album here:

Soundcloud

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
At Fresh Force, we instill creativity, confidence, and collaboration in our students. The journey of creating a song and music as a student group, as well as performing for the public can be a transformative experience. Fresh Force inspires the students to experiment, name their pain, and claim their tomorrow.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?
While all of the students are between 14-18 years old and living in Cuyahoga County, the students come from very diverse backgrounds.

One student is a refugee from Uganda. He shared that Refresh is the first place he recorded music in a group setting. The program helped him with his English skills, confidence, and finding community in the United States.

Another student from this year, Ericka, is a Cleveland native. With Refresh, she has designed a mural, clothing, acted in a short film, and made seven songs that she has performed at various venues in the area.

Another student, Marc, shared with us that he “loves the way that artists can come together and teach other artists how to do what they do… Music isn’t everything, let alone hip hop. As early as when we’re being born, we feel the heartbeat of our mothers. And that’s how we learn to jump on a drum, we were learn how to pluck on a string. Music is universal. It’s amazing. There’s nothing really that can compare to listening to a song and getting through your feelings or being able to express yourself through lyrics or emotion.”

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