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Youthbuild Builds New Homes and Young Lives |
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More than 5,500 unemployed youths in cities around the country gained a high school credential and learned construction skills while building affordable housing in their communities through the Youthbuild program in 1999. Youthbuild is a partnership between Youthbuild U.S.A. (a national umbrella group), HUD, and local Youthbuild affiliates. Youthbuild affiliates operate the local programs with technical assistance from Youthbuild U.S.A. HUD supports Youthbuild U.S.A. and funds local groups directly through an annual Notice of Funding Availability (SuperNOFA) process. In October 1999 HUD awarded $40 million in grants to 87 Youthbuild projects in 35 states and the District of Columbia. “Time and again I’d hear young people—who looked like they’d dropped out of life—say that what they wanted to do was to fix up the abandoned buildings in their neighborhood and make homes for poor and homeless people,” recalls Dorothy Stoneman, president of Youthbuild U.S.A. and founder of the program. “So I put my resources behind a pilot project that would let them do just that, and this was the model for what is now Youthbuild.” A national model. Youthbuild began in East Harlem in 1978, addressing three urban problems: turning around the lives of high school dropouts, transforming abandoned buildings into affordable housing, and reducing homelessness. Unemployed young people—between the ages of 16 and 24—participate on a 9- to 12-month cycle, receiving job training, education, counseling, and leadership training. In addition, stipends help support needy participants as they take part in education and training. Youthbuild participants spend alternate weeks in school and on the job site. After completing the program, many graduates go on to jobs in construction or to college. “With Youthbuild, young people are getting in one place everything they’re looking for even if they didn’t know they were looking for it,” Stoneman explains. “They get treated with so much respect as potential leaders that they immediately experience themselves differently. And then there’s the fact that they’re building housing, which is the most important visible commodity in the neighborhood.”
HUD initiated its funding partnership with Youthbuild in 1993 and since then has provided more than $200 million in grants. During that time, Youthbuild has helped more than 27,000 young people take part in building or rehabilitating more than 7,000 affordable housing units in their communities. About 60 percent of students who start the program complete the entire cycle, according to Youthbuild U.S.A. Of those completing the program, 85 percent go on to college or to jobs averaging more than $7.50 per hour. The program primarily serves minority youth. In 1998, 80 percent of participants were minorities, including 65 percent African American and 12 percent Hispanic. Approximately 70 percent were young men, 90 percent came from very low-income families, and 47 percent were parents. Using local resources to stretch federal funds. Begun in 1993 as a response to the Watts riots in 1992, YES-Youthbuild is one of the program’s successful affiliates. YES has added approximately 100 units to the housing stock in the community. Because this is generally tract housing, rather than a few scattered houses, the Youthbuild contribution is highly visible. “When young people fail and drop out of school, it shuts off their ability to learn,” comments Jim Smith, executive director of the YES-Youthbuild program in the Watts area of South Central Los Angeles. “We reactivate learning in young people by enlisting them in solving neighborhood problems. As a result, they end up getting their GED or high school diploma and back on track toward a successful life.” YES is currently working with 32 unemployed inner-city youths. As a local nonprofit with community roots, YES is able to stretch HUD funding (approximately 60 percent of its budget) with local resources. Its funders include the state department of education, the county department of children and family services, the city of Los Angeles community development department, and some private corporations. YES also benefits from in-kind contributions and receives support from knowledgeable volunteers. “The key to success in this business is partnerships,” says Smith. “For example, in conjunction with the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center, we’ve got three district teachers who make sure that our curriculum is in line with the Los Angeles unified school district. We’ve got Home Depot donating tools and materials for our construction projects and employing our graduates, and we’ve got the Watts Labor Community Action Council providing in-kind services such as transportation to get our students from one place to another.” Smith says he can get corporations and others to buy into YES because of its holistic, caring approach. “When I talk to Home Depot, they say, ‘Wait a minute, I want to be part of what you’re doing. That’s helping to build a whole person.’” Working with this Youthbuild affiliate, Smith says he can give young adults the opportunity to get jobs with benefits paying more than minimum wage, buy and fix up houses for their families, and feel good about themselves. Since 1995 YES has helped 85 Los Angeles young people acquire their GED or high school diploma. More than 75 percent have pursued higher education or remained in the construction field after preapprenticing with a construction company. For more information, see: Youthbuild’s Web site. Or contact: Peter Twichell, Co-Director of Field Services, Youthbuild U.S.A., 58 Day Street, Sommerville, MA 02144, (617) 623–9900; or Jim Smith, Executive Director of YES-Youthbuild, 1773 East Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90002, (213) 473–3713. Or see: “Youthbuild U.S.A.,” in Pathways to One America in the 21st Century: Promising Practices for Racial Reconciliation, January 1999. The President’s Initiative for One America, The White House, OEOB, Room 468, Washington, DC 20503.
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