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News Release

New YouthBuild grants expand second chances for at-risk youth
in 31 states and the District of Columbia

Seventy-two grants awarded totaling nearly $76M

WASHINGTON — Last month, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez met a young Camden man named Donny during a visit to New Jersey to tour the facilities of YouthBuild Camden. Before YouthBuild, Donny felt he was on the wrong path and headed toward a life on the streets.

Like other young people, Donny came to YouthBuild at first to earn his GED. Instead, he told Secretary Perez, the program helped him find his courage, self-confidence, motivation, and personal strength. Donny now works at the Housing Authority of the City of Camden and doing maintenance work on the side, hoping to lead to a full time job there.

Today, the department announced the award of nearly $76 million in YouthBuild grants to support additional academic and occupational skills training for at-risk youth like Donny. The grants range from approximately $700,000 to $1.1 million each and will fund 72 YouthBuild programs in 31 states, the District of Columbia and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Nation. Of the recipients in this award, 22 eligible applicants that have not previously received a YouthBuild grant were selected this year.

YouthBuild is a non-residential, community-based alternative education program that provides classroom instruction and occupational skills training in construction and other in-demand occupations. The program serves 16-to-24 year-olds who have dropped out of high school and who have been in the justice system, are aging out of foster care, have dropped out of high school, or are otherwise at-risk of failing to reach key educational and career milestones. The grants will serve an estimated 4,800 participants in the next three years.

"Success should never be determined by where a person starts in life," Secretary Perez said. "YouthBuild equips young people with the tools they need to realize their potential and the job skills they need to climb career ladders and punch their tickets to the middle class. Closing opportunity gaps for America's young people is a matter of basic fairness and critical to our ability to compete in the global economy."

Today's announcement marks the first round of YouthBuild grants awarded under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The law, which became effective on July 1, 2015, led to several changes to YouthBuild. These changes include putting greater focus on improving the quality and energy efficiency of buildings serving low-income and homeless individuals and families; expanding the eligibility to include youth who have dropped out of high school but subsequently reenrolled; and supporting further program alignment with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

YouthBuild's mission aligns closely with the goals of President Obama's My Brother's Keeper initiative, which seeks to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color and ensure that all young people can realize their full potential.

A list of this year's YouthBuild funding participants follows this release.

Grantee

City

State

Amount

Category

The Dannon Project

Birmingham

Ala.

$1,062,502

New Applicant

The Institute for Community Youth & Family Services, Inc.

Birmingham

Ala.

$1,083,000

New Applicant

City of Phoenix, Department of Community & Economic Development

Phoenix

Ariz.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Portable, Practical Educational Preparation, Inc.

Tucson

Ariz.

$1,097,977

New Applicant

EntreNous Youth Empowerment Services, Inc.

Compton

Calif.

$1,062,414

New Applicant

Los Angeles Conservation Corps.

Los Angeles

Calif.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Youth Policy Institute

Los Angeles

Calif.

$1,100,000

New Applicant

Riverside County Office of Education

Riverside

Calif.

$1,098,000

Previously-Funded

Sacramento Regional Conservation Corps

Sacramento

Calif.

$1,099,968

Previously-Funded

San Joaquin County Office of Education

Stockton

Calif.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Year One Inc./Mile High Youth Corps

Denver

Colo.

$914,343

Previously-Funded

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

Towaoc

Colo.

$1,099,998

New Applicant

Latin American Youth Center/YouthBuild Public Charter School

Washington

DC

$1,057,693

Previously-Funded

OIC of South Florida

Ft. Lauderdale

Fla.

$1,100,000

New Applicant

Housing Authority of the City of Tampa

Tampa

Fla.

$1,079,058

Previously-Funded

Des Moines Area Community College

Ankeny

Iowa

$805,435

Previously-Funded

Prologue, Inc.

Chicago

Ill.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Lewis & Clark Community College

Godfrey

Ill.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

YouthBuild Lake County

North Chicago

Ill.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Comprehensive Community Solutions, Inc.

Rockford

Ill.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Youth Conservation Corps

Waukegan

Ill.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

United Way of Wyandotte County

Kansas City

Kan.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

YouthBuild Louisville

Louisville

Ky.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Parish of Rapides Police Jury

Alexandria

La.

$720,000

New Applicant

Quad Area Community Action Agency, Inc.

Hammond

La.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Start Corporation

Houma

La.

$863,703

New Applicant

Ecumenical Social Action Committee

Dorchester

Mass.

$1,020,902

New Applicant

People Acting in Community Endeavors, Inc.

New Bedford

Mass.

$1,003,047

Previously-Funded

LearningWorks-YouthBuild Bayside

Portland

Maine

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Washtenaw Community College

Ann Arbor

Mich.

$899,737

New Applicant

Michigan Works! Berrien-Cass-Van Buren

Benton Harbor

Mich.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

SER Metro-Detroit

Detroit

Mich.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Bethany Christian Services

Grand Rapids

Mich.

$1,100,000

New Applicant

Bi-County Community Action Programs, Inc.

Bemidji

Minn.

$864,000

Previously-Funded

Tree Trust

St Louis Park

Minn.

$1,008,000

Previously-Funded

Parent Child Center, Inc.

St. Louis

Mo.

$1,061,492

New Applicant

Mississippi Action for Community Education, Inc.

Greenville

Miss.

$1,037,693

Previously-Funded

ASPIRA, Inc. of New Jersey

Newark

N.J.

$1,062,502

New Applicant

YouthBuild Newark, Inc.

Newark

N.J.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

iYouthWorks!

Santa Fe

N.M.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Workforce Connections (Southern Nevada Workforce Investment Board)

Las Vegas

Nev.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Innovative Charitable Initiatives

Albany

N.Y.

$1,100,000

New Applicant

The Service Collaborative of Western New York, Inc.

Buffalo

N.Y.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

YMCA of Kingston and Ulster County

Kingston

N.Y.

$925,714

Previously-Funded

Settlement Housing Fund, Inc.

New York

N.Y.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Nubian Directions II, Inc.

Poughkeepsie

N.Y.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Urban League of Rochester, New York

Rochester

N.Y.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Mohawk Valley Community College

Utica

N.Y.

$1,096,117

New Applicant

Westchester County Department of Social Services

White Plains

N.Y.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

OhioGuidestone

Berea

Ohio

$1,100,000

New Applicant

Easter Seals TriState, LLC.

Cincinnati

Ohio

$1,095,873

Previously-Funded

YouthBuild Columbus Community School

Columbus

Ohio

$1,100,000

New Applicant

Franklin County Youth Build - Youth Over Us

Columbus

Ohio

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Community Action Commission of Fayette County

Washington Court House

Ohio

$720,000

Previously-Funded

Portland YouthBuilders

Portland

Ore.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Auberle

McKeesport

Pa.

$1,099,523

New Applicant

Connection Training Services

Philadelphia

Pa.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Philadelphia YouthBuild Charter School

Philadelphia

Pa.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

United Community Services for Working Families

Reading

Pa.

$1,079,559

Previously-Funded

The Providence Plan

Providence

R.I.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands South Carolina

Greenville

S.C.

$1,080,000

New Applicant

YouthBuild of Northeast Tennessee

Elizabethton

Tenn.

$998,482

Previously-Funded

Community Learning Centers, Inc.

Fort Worth

Texas

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

SER-Jobs for Progress of the Texas Gulf Coast, Inc.

Houston

Texas

$1,100,000

New Applicant

Total Action For Progress

Roanoke

Va.

$1,027,309

Previously-Funded

Community Youth Services

Olympia

Wash.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

NorthEast Washington Educational Service District 101

Spokane

Wash.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Goodwill of the Olympics & Rainier Region

Tacoma

Wash.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

ADVOCAP, Inc.

Fond du Lac

Wis.

$701,498

New Applicant

Waukesha-Ozaukee-Washington Workforce Development Board

Pewaukee

Wis.

$1,057,693

Previously-Funded

Southern Appalachian Labor School

Kincaid

W.Va.

$1,100,000

Previously-Funded

Human Resource Development Foundation, Inc.

Morgantown

W.Va.

$921,318

Previously-Funded

Agency
Employment and Training Administration
Date
September 16, 2015
Release Number
15-1836-NAT
Media Contact: David Roberts
Phone Number
Media Contact: Joe Versen
Phone Number