ATLANTA — The temperature in metro Atlanta is beginning to heat up and so are efforts to support local youth.
"We call it officially ice season now!," Ian Elmore-Moore exclaimed, welcoming a group of teens through the doors of his shop at 2185 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
The teens are using time off during spring break to start their official work with Glaciers Italian Ice, a youth entrepreneurship program Elmore-Moore launched in 2021 to merge his hope for an Italian ice shop with the chance to help local teens.
"I saw what was going on with the Atlanta water boys," Elmore-Moore said. "The young men were being entrepreneurs starting their own business. But it wasn't structured. I saw an opportunity to hire young people to work these push carts in Atlanta, and it could be safe and it could be structured."
For the 2023 season, Elmore-Moore plans to hire twice the number of teens thanks to grant funding from the mayor's Year of the Youth Initiative– designed to help Atlanta's children get the resources needed to live a successful life.
The shop has also become a hub for the neighborhood, where kids can find mentoring, tutoring and Wi-Fi.
"We started with Italian ice," Elmore-Moore said. "It merged into after school. It merged into character and leadership development, and I think it's going to expand to do a lot more."
Kyle Dixon, who attends Morehouse, is one of the older employees that came on board to mentor youth as well as serve as a project coordinator.
"You can see Ian wants to bring a sense of community," Dixon shared. "I see potential for each kid that's stepped in here."
But success takes investment from everyone, especially the teens themselves as 14-year-old Keshawn Harris explained.
"He's (Elmore-Moore) pushing us to the limits. He's making sure we're on our top game," Harris said.
For Elmore-Moore, it's ultimately about more than selling Italian ice. The carts, he said, are a chance to inspire and give them an opportunity for exposure.
"They've never been to the Jazz Festival," Elmore-Moore said. "They've never been to Georgia Tech, to the baseball games we go to. These carts open doors that sometimes, for citizens of the city, of Atlanta otherwise seem closed."
"I feel like it's a great chance for us to get out in the world and see different things, meet different people," Harris added. "I feel like I can go do things I haven't done before."
To learn more or apply for a position, visit the Glaciers Italian Ice website here.