HUD ANNOUNCES $3.5 MILLION TO FIVE OHIO PROGRAMS � 260 YOUNG PEOPLE TO GET NEW START IN LIFE
Akron, Columbus, Dayton and Hamilton youth will begin careers building affordable housing

CHICAGO � Approximately 260 low-income young people in Ohio 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 Ohio 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.

Akron Summit Community Action, Inc. will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable Akron Summit Community Action, Inc. to train 50 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to rehabilitate six houses. Akron Summit Community Action has several major partners which include Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, Mustard Seed Development center, Akron Public Schools, Goodwill Industries, Henry and Laura Huth Foundation, and Nazareth Housing Development Corporation.

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 between the ages of 16-24 and to construct two houses. Major partners include YouthBuild Columbus Community School, Youthbuild Columbus, Associated Builders and Contractors, and Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority.

Youth Over Us, Inc. (Columbus) will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable Youth Over Us, Inc. to train 40 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to construct two houses. Youth Over Us' major partners are Columbus Works, YouthBuild Columbus, Westside Hope for Homeownership Limited, Partnership, and Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority.

ISUS Inc. (Dayton) will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable ISUS Inc. to train 70 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to construct three houses. ISUS Inc. has four major partners: ISUS Institute (State of Ohio Charter School), Montgomery County Juvenile Court, Sinclair Community College, and First United Methodist Church.

Future Community Builders (Hamilton) will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable Future Community Builders to train 40 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to construct two houses. The major partners for Future Community Builders include City of Hamilton, Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, YWCA
of Hamilton, and Ohio and Vicinity Regional Council of Carpenters.

"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 Ohio grantees awarded funding through HUD's Youthbuild Program: