HUD'S YOUTHBUILD PROGRAM DELIVERS $54 MILLION FOR SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING
$400,000 Grant to Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

WASHINGTON - Twenty Minnesota young people who never finished high school will get a second chance to receive their diplomas because of a $400,000 grant announced today by Housing and Urban Development Secretary
Alphonso Jackson. The grant is part of $54 million HUD is awarding through its YouthbuildProgram to offer job
training and leadership skills to young people while putting them back on a path toward graduation.

Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development will receive a Youthbuild grant in the
amount of $400,000. The grant will enable Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to
train 20 youth for a future in the construction trades while constructing one new home and rehabilitating two
homes for lower income families, many facing homelessness in St. Paul and St. Louis, Minnesota. Major partners include: Guadalupe Alternative Programs, and Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency

"This funding will offer hope and opportunity to young men and women across the country," said Jackson.
"Youthbuild enables them to return to the classroom, acquire construction skills and put their minds and hands to
work producing more affordable housing in their own communities."

Young people who enroll in local Youthbuild programs lack high school diplomas and the job skills necessary to find meaningful employment. The funding announced today will help young men and women, ages 16-to-24, to receive their high school equivalency diplomas and provide them training in homebuilding skills that will qualify them for
careers in the building industry.

Program participants will receive on-the-job training in the building trades and help build and renovate homes that
are then sold at affordable prices to low- and very low-income persons as well as to homeless individuals and
families. In addition, these grants are anticipated to generate millions of additional dollars from other public and private sources.

"Youthbuild shows young people how to build new homes for people in need, and new lives for themselves," said Joseph P. Galvan, HUD Regional Director for the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin). "This program unlocks the door to success and a good job for young people left behind."

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 as
well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet and espanol.hud.gov.

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