HUD ANNOUNCES $3.5 MILLION TO FIVE ILLINOIS PROGRAMS - 212 YOUNG PEOPLE TO GET NEW START IN LIFE
Chicago, Lake County, McLean County, St. Clair County and Winnebago County youth will begin careers building affordable housing

CHICAGO - Approximately 212 low-income young people in Illinois will return to school and begin new careers in the homebuilding trades because of $3.5 million in grants announced today by Joseph P. Galvan, HUD Regional Director
for the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin). Five grants to Illinois programs will help these young people graduate high school, train them for a future in the construction trades and will produce affordable homes for lower income families, many facing homelessness.

Genesis Housing Development Corp will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable Genesis Housing Development Corp to train 40 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to construct four new houses. Partnering with this applicant will be various City Colleges, the Institute for Cognitive Literacy, the
University of Chicago and private contractors.

Youthbuild Lake County, Inc. will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable Youthbuild Lake County, Inc. to train 50 youth between the ages of 16-24 and will construct one new home for a low-income family. Some of their key partners include the College of Lake County, the Workforce Investment
Agency and the City Government of North Chicago.

Emerson Park Development Corporation will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant
will enable Emerson Park Development Corporation to train 40 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to assist in the rehabilitation of the Reese Estates Subdivision. Partnering with this organization will be the Comprehensive Mental Health Center of St. Clair County, East Site Health District, Illinois Department of Human Services, Southwestern Illinois College and the Korte Company, along with a host of other participants committed to the success of this applicant.

YouthBuild McLean County will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable YouthBuild McLean County to train 40 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to construct two single family Self
Help homes at the Stoneman Gardens subdivision. Some of their partners involved in assisting this applicant are the Midwest Food Bank, Illinois Department of Human Services, and USDA Rural Development. These are just a few of those organizations on hand to assist this organization achieve its goals.

Comprehensive Community Solutions, Inc. will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable Comprehensive Community Solutions, Inc. to train 42 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to construct
3 single-family homes for low income residents. Some of the organization's partners committed to assist them in this proposal are Youthbuild USA, Winnebago County Health Department, YMCA of Rock River Valley, Illinois Capital Development Board, Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers #6, Carpenter's Local Union 792 and Ken-Z Roofing just to name a few of their partners.

"These programs gives new hope to high school dropouts, enabling them to build housing for families in need while building new careers and new lives for themselves," Galvan said. "Through these non-profit organizations, the Youthbuild Program is helping young people work their way out of poverty. These students produce affordable
housing in their communities while they gain a skill, a GED, a job and a new lease on life."

Nationwide, the $45.5 million in Youthbuild grants announced by Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Alphonso Jackson (see chart at end of release) will offer job training and leadership skills to an estimated 3,075
young people. Young people who drop out of high school face a lifetime of underemployment and can be at higher
risk of homelessness. However, thousands of these "at-risk" young people are looking forward to graduation and careers in homebuilding because of Youthbuild grants that will help these students, ages 16-to-24, to earn their
high school diplomas and train them for a future in the construction trades while producing 702 homes for lower income families, many facing homelessness.

Jackson said, "With a modest investment by HUD, we can help these young people graduate high school, start
them on a new career path, and create more affordable homes for families who might otherwise be living on our streets."

Today's announcement marks a transition of the Youthbuild program from HUD to the Department of Labor. This transfer represents the fulfillment of a 2003 White House Task Force Report on Disadvantaged Youth and resulted
in the passage of The Youthbuild Transfer Act, signed by President Bush in September.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development, and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet
and espanol.hud.gov. For more information about FHA products, please visit www.fha.gov.

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• NOTE: Contacts for the Illinois grantees awarded funding through HUD's Youthbuild Program:

FISCAL YEAR 2006 YOUTHBUILD GRANT AWARDS

NOTE: Detailed State-by-State breakdown of individual grant recipients is available on the HUD website.