HUD ANNOUNCES $1.4 MILLION TO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE GET A NEW START IN LIFE
Grants to Bronx, Harlem, and Schenectady Youth Programs

NEW YORK - Over 150 low-income young people in New York will return to school and begin new careers in the homebuilding trades because of $1.4 million in grants announced recently by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Three grants to New York State 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.

The South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation will receive $700,000 from HUD; while the Northeast Parent & Child Society will receive $390,011; and, the Abyssinian Development Corporation will receive $400,000.
The grants are part of more than $58 million in funding recently awarded nationwide through HUD's Youthbuild Program.

"I'm thrilled that HUD can play such an important role in helping these young people earn their high school diplomas while introducing them to high-demand skills that will ensure their economic futures," said HUD Regional Director
Sean M. Moss. "This is a win-win program since these young people will be putting hammer-to-nail to produce 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 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.

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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