Park Place Outreach Youth Emergency Shelter has added two team members to its Street Outreach program, Jamal Choice and Pamela Franklin.

The Street Outreach Program finds and offers assistance to Chatham Country’s runaways, homeless and street youth. Choice and Franklin will coordinate with local agencies and programs to meet the needs of these teens and young adults, as well as advocate for them in the surrounding community.

The SOP has received funding intermittently since 1997, but Park Place Outreach recently received a three-year annual grant of $121,654 to re-fund the program, which serves teens and young adults up to age 21 through counseling and a drop-in center.

Choice, who is working toward a master’s degree in epidemiology from Georgia Southern University, is also involved with Collegiate 100 Men of America, Habitat For Humanity, NAACP, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and the National Pan-Hellenic Council in addition to running his own barbecue business “The Firepit.”

“I have mentored youth for the past seven years and am really excited to continue pursuing my passion for working with kids through Park Place Outreach,” said Choice.

Franklin, who is pursuing a major in child and family development from Georgia Southern, will serve as the promoting safe and stable family case manager for Park Place.

“I am thrilled that Park Place Outreach has given me the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of young at-risk youth,” Franklin said.