Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today awarded nearly $350,000 to the Town of Guadalupe, Arizona to train 20 high school drop-outs to build and renovate low-income housing and to support themselves as construction workers.

The $349,880 in assistance under HUD's Youthbuild Program will give the young people on-the-job training by having them learn construction skills as they work to build 10 new homes for low-income families.

Cuomo made the announcement with Congressman Ed Pastor and Mayor Francis Oscuna in a telephone news conference from Washington.

"This program helps high school drop-outs build new housing for families in need, while building new careers and new lives for themselves," Cuomo said. "With the construction and academic skills they learn in Youthbuild, young people can work their way out of poverty and support themselves for a lifetime."

In addition to HUD's investment, other groups will provide $74,000 in cash and services to the Youthbuild project in Guadalupe. The groups include: Centro De Amistad, Guadalupe High School, South Mountain Community College, Guadalupe Learning Center, Peer Foundation, Arizona Department of Economic Security, and the State Commission for National Service.

Youthbuild participants - ranging in age from 16 to 24 - would have a hard time finding good jobs without the program, because they lack high school diplomas and job skills. Youthbuild helps the young people get general equivalency high school diplomas and provides social services and training in leadership skills, in addition to training as construction workers.

Nationwide, HUD is awarding $33.1 million this month to local governments, housing authorities and non-profit groups to train nearly 2,300 high school drop-outs in the Youthbuild program. Over 850 affordable houses and apartments will be built or renovated.

A total of 217 applicants around the country competed for the 69 Youthbuild grants that HUD is awarding this month.

HUD's investment in the program nationwide this year will attract other investment from outside the Department of $34 million in cash and in-kind resources supporting Youthbuild.

More than $170 million in grants have been made under Youthbuild since it began in 1993, enabling over 7,800 young people to take part in building or rehabilitating more than 3,650 affordable housing units in their communities.