Tamika Darden grew tired of seeing the dejected faces every summer.

Young people in Newark would apply for the city's summer jobs program but, unfortunately, not everyone could be selected. There were not enough jobs for the thousands who filled out applications.

Juwan Thomas-Jackson, 18, was one of them this year. So was Ja'Mir Horton, 15. Both thought they had a shot to be among the nearly 3,000 young people, ages 14-24, to be hired.

"I was extremely disappointed," said Thomas-Jackson, a freshman at Rider University. "I needed the money for supplies and books."

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As examples like this played out, Darden, a Newark community leader, decided to do something. She spent $7,000 to $9,000 of her own money to offer a nontraditional work experience for 11 Newark young people, including Horton and Thomas-Jackson, a psychology major.

As her platform, she had her own nonprofit organization: the Gregory Thomas Foundation, named after her late father. She had the money to give Newark youth something constructive to do for six weeks.

"My thing is, if we're here for the youth, why not do that if I can," Darden said.

Darden's plan spread by word of mouth, and it wasn't long before people found out that she was paying $100 to $200 every other week. She was known in Newark's community circles, plus she was an outreach employee at the Newark Youth One Stop and Career Center, the office in charge of the summer job employment program.

Darden's idea wasn't a typical 9-to-5 gig when the participants reported to a site provided by the Newark Housing Authority.

"She was doing it for kids she doesn't even know," said Horton, a high school sophomore at Eagle Academy for Young Men in Newark. "She actually cares."

There were writing exercises every day. They met professionals who talked about their careers. The expansive list included a judge, an attorney, a talk show host, a school board member, a musical artist and a retired executive.

Some of the young people learned videography, others did office work. No day was the same. Martial arts lessons were mixed with strategies to cope with trauma they may have been going through.

When the homegrown initiative was about to end, Darden kept it going, but without the money. They met at the Newark Public Library to network and talk of life, achievement and setting goals.

"That's why I'm sticking with her," Thomas-Jackson said.

Thomas-Jackson said he appreciates her vision, which he believes is to promote excellence in urban communities like Newark that are often frowned upon.

"Without Ms. Tamika doing what she did, I wouldn't have had much going on. It was like it was meant to be."

Whether it's fate or not, there are still nice people among us who do the right thing and don't look to be written about. This story came to me months after the fact when I heard about Buju Hopkins, a 19-year-old man who contemplated dropping out of Lead Charter School, an alternative school, where he's a senior.

He signed up for Darden's program, but not for the same reasons as the other participants. Hopkins didn't apply for a summer youth job. He was looking for a permanent job through the city's One Stop-Career Center, so he could help his 80-year-old grandmother.

That department, which serves adults re-entering the workforce, sent him to Darden's office. She thought he had not been selected for summer youth employment, and suggested that he show up for her program.

He did, but was skeptical. The writing exercises, the professionals talking about careers didn't add up for him. Hopkins wondered when the "real money" would kick in.

"It wasn't easy to trust Ms. Tamika," he said. "When somebody is being nice to you off the rip (from the beginning), you put your wall up."

Gradually he gave in, especially after learning Darden used her own money. The exposure to new people and experiences, he said, was genuine. Darden showed him that he could trust people, and not to judge prematurely as he did her kindness.

"I believe everything happens for a reason," Hopkins said. "I don't believe anything happens by mistake."

So, when Hopkins thought leaving school was the answer to his personal struggles, Darden had him attend a mentorship breakfast last month at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark. Several men talked to him, but one in particular, Charles Williams of West Orange, had his ear for 90 minutes.

"I told him that while you're going through all of these problems and tribulations, you have been chosen to be the one in your family to be the example of how you can take a bad situation and turn it into something," said Williams, who owns a media production company and said he has mentored many young men across the country.

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He explained to Hopkins that he had to improve his grades and that he would walk him through the college process and help him get into school.

"I was telling him, 'You have to make that first step. When you make that first step, the angels will send people into your life and will help guide you on the right path.' "

Between Darden and Williams and the other men surrounding him, Hopkins left the event thinking differently from when he arrived.

"I got a lot of hope and new life out of it," he said. "You never know how life gets planned out. You can go from nothing to something."

He was feeling like something on Saturday.

Because of Darden, he met Mayor Ras Baraka at a re-election rally. It was just another sign for the young man that his life held promise.

"There are some kids that fall by the wayside and don't make it," Darden said.

She wasn't going to let that happen last summer, but she deflects the credit.

"It wasn't me," Darden said. "God made a way."

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or

nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL