Teens ask for summer jobs at housing authority to stay out of gangs

The streets will not have our children.

That's the powerful statement going viral on social media and the woman behind it is making sure the message spreads one kid and one job at a time.

When the same several teens in Georgia kept showing up at the front office of their housing authority looking for a summer job, CEO Zsa Zsa Heard asked them why.

So they told her they had been approached to join gangs and wanted to stay out of trouble.

Floored by their response, Heard hired them on the spot.

And this isn't just about the $7.25 an hour for a summer gig, she told Action News that she's teaching them skills for the future.

The teens are working in the garden, tending to the chicken coop and are building wooden benches - from scratch.

And they are learning communications, everything from making eye contact to shaking people's hands.

Heard says she's so thrilled that their story is going viral - with more than 700 shares on Facebook - because she hopes others see this and do the same.

She says we need to invest in our kids, invest in our future and make sure the streets do not have our children.