Although the weekend moving company job left him plenty of time for schoolwork and skateboarding, Frank Castillo knew he didn’t want to load and unload trucks forever. When a friend told the 16-year old Camden, New Jersey resident about Hopeworks’ Website Design and Development Program, Castillo thought it was “worth checking out.”

Now eighteen and bound for Rutgers in the fall to pursue computer and information science, Castillo readies his crew of eleven Hopeworks youth for a day in the field. Clutching hand-held computers and DBH tapes, the group’s summer goal is nothing if not ambitious?a detailed survey of every Camden street tree.

Speaking modestly of his new leadership role, Castillo says, “At first I didn’t know how this would work out?I was a bit shaky, they were a bit shaky. Well now these guys are totally pro.”

Indeed this no classroom exercise. When the New Jersey Tree Foundation (NJTF), a local tree planting non-profit, decided it needed detailed information on the city’s existing tree cover, they contracted Hopeworks to conduct a study using American Forests’ CITYgreen software. When completed, the project will help NJTF and the Camden Public Housing Authority find the most suitable locations for new trees while quantifying the air quality, energy conservation, and water storage benefits provided by the existing tree canopy. According to NJTF Urban Forestry Specialist, Carrie Magee, “Hopeworks had the GIS capacity that we didn’t have, plus a strong connection to the young people of Camden.”

Since its inception in 2000, Hopeworks has built a reputation as one of Camden’s premier geographic information systems (GIS) and website design outfits. Engaging over 400 at-risk youth, the non-profit organization has completed more than 30 major municipal GIS projects, including Camden’s first ever property parcel map. With this important data layer in their portfolio (and theirs alone), the contracts keep pouring in. And so do the city’s youth, looking for scant opportunities in a city that has fallen on hard times.

The dropout rate at Camden’s two high schools is a staggering 70%. With an average family income of $ 11,000, 55% of the city’s residents live below the poverty line making Camden, by some measures, the poorest city in New Jersey. Not surprisingly, the murder rate is one of the highest in the country.

Founded by three local pastors during the heyday of the internet boom, Hopeworks’ initial mission was fairly straightforward: provide the city’s youth with enough computer and website design and construction skills to find decent jobs in this rapidly booming field, while simultaneously helping build self-esteem and personal responsibility.

Upon completing a non-paid training in which they design and build personal web pages, the youth are offered paying jobs to ply their new skills contributing to actual client projects secured by Hopeworks staff.

Until 2001, web design contracts came in steadily. For Camden’s many businesses and civic organizations, Hopeworks turned out high-quality web sites at very competitive rates and provided a welcome opportunity for these organizations to contribute positively to the community?a win-win situation for all.

But when the Internet bubble burst, Hopeworks knew it had to adapt quickly if it was to remain a meaningful alternative for youth battling the draw of street life. The organization’s staff and board decided to expand the computer training beyond web design.

Enter Matthew Grove, then an Urban Studies major at University of Pennsylvania with a strong interest in applying geographic information systems to inner-city revitalization. An internship with Hopeworks developing a nascent GIS program was parlayed into a full-time job offer. Dropping his studies to halftime to take the job, Grove finally graduated Penn last May.

The decision paid off. Through Grove’s leadership, Hopeworks has succeeded not only in landing many sought-after GIS contracts, but also in greatly expanding the palette of skills available to Camden’s youth.

With the softened economy, Hopeworks also shifted from pure job-training programs to those that encourage youth to stay in school and pursue further study. Through new relationships with several local schools and colleges, Hopeworks’ participants now receive GED and college credit for their work.

Grove is particularly excited about the CITYgreen study and it’s impact on Camden’s youth. “I’m really surprised how well the youth have taken to this program. Here we are walking down the street and these guys are rattling off the name of every tree on the block.”

Still Grove is aware of the challenges faced in a city where, according to the State of New Jersey, everyone under 18 is automatically designated ‘at-risk.’ “Many of our participants are on probation or parole,” he says “and no one program can solve all the problems in a person’s life.”

Nevertheless, the number of Hopeworks’ success stories continues to grow.

For his part, Frank Castillo wants to stay involved even while attending college full-time in the fall. Supervising the survey of hundreds of street trees gives him a newfound appreciation for his city. Says Castillo; “It makes you see the world differently when you know what is growing around you.”