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