HUD'S YOUTHBUILD PROGRAM DELIVERS $54 MILLION FOR SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING
Grants to Canton, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio total $2,500,000

WASHINGTON - Nearly two hundred Ohio young people who never finished high school will get a second chance to receive their diplomas because of $2.5 million in grants announced today by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson. The grants are part of $54 million HUD is awarding through its Youthbuild Program to offer job training and leadership skills to young people while putting them back on a path toward graduation.

These grants will help train them for a future in the construction trades while producing eight homes for lower income families, many facing homelessness.

"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."

Project Rebuild, Inc., Canton, will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable Project Rebuild to train 32 youth and rehabilitate two houses. Major partners include: AmeriCorps; Cambio Substance Abuse Counseling; Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board; and WIA.

Youth Over Us, Columbus, will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $400,000. The grant will enable Youth Over Us to train 30 youth and build one house. Major partners include: Columbus Works; Franklin County Department of Jobs and Family Services; City of Columbus; Volunteers of Central Ohio; Franklinton Employment Consortium; and, Westside/Eastside Child Care Centers Association.

Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, Columbus, will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000.
The grant will enable Buckeye Community Hope Foundation to train 60 youth and build two houses. Major partners include: Ohio State University, and YouthBuild Columbus Community (Charter) School.

ISUS, Inc., Dayton, will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable ISUS to train
70 youth and construct three new homes. Major partners include: the City of Dayton; County Corp.; National City; Catholic Social Services; and, the Czeiszperger Construction Company.

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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