Jennifer Cabral doesn’t start her new job as Dartmouth’s Youth Advocate until September, but she’s already out around town working with at-risk youth.

On Wednesday, Cabral and two other outreach workers from New Bedford’s Healthy Opportunities for Peaceful Engagement (HOPE) Collaborative Program were busy dunking large leafy greens into buckets of water at the YMCA’s Sharing the Harvest Community Farm.

This past October, while she was still working at Cushman School, she joined the HOPE Collaborative Program. Through the program, Cabral provides guidance for kids age 14 through 18 that are gang-prone, meaning they are at-risk for gang activity because of their personal connections.

“What we did, at the beginning of the school year, was reach out to every middle school in New Bedford and the high school and introduced our program. The schools put together a list of the most at-risk students,” said Cabral.

“On certain days, they do social skills like anger management, conflict resolution, those kinds of things. On opposite days, they have tutoring. Anybody who’s failing a class, they’ll ask them to stay for tutoring,” she said.

But during the summer, the kids are given jobs through New Directions or they are given the chance to roll up their sleeves and work at the farm in Dartmouth.

“I think it’s great. We have kids here that are working their butt off. They get a stipend at the end of the summer,” said Cabral. “It’s not easy being out there picking kale and all that, but they’re out there doing it because they know at the end of the summer, they can go out and buy some nice clothes.”

She also said the work helps keep them off the street and gives them structure. The group, which can have up to a dozen kids working at a time, works Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Marcus Mendoza, 17, said he’s been in the program since January. On Wednesday morning, he was busy picking kale, squash and zucchini. He described his farming experience as amazing, but a lot of work.

“It takes the energy right out of you. It’s nothing I haven’t learned in school, but to experience it is even better,” said Mendoza.

Alex Cotto, 16, said he’s been active in the program for the past three years.

“Right now, we work outside. But in the school year, they help you with your homework and then they give a mini-lesson,” said Cotto.

As for how he’s spending his summer, he’s glad to be working in the farm.

“It’s hot, sometimes it smells. But it’s good to be here rather than sitting at home,” he said, adding that he’s interested in coming back next year.

“I love these kids,” said Cabral. “This is my heart, working with these types of kids. It’s so rewarding to see their smiles. Like [Alex] said, I’d rather be here than sitting at home.”