| HUD No. 00-255 | |
| Further Information: | For Release |
| In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685 | Sunday |
| Or contact your local HUD office | September 24, 2000 |
CUOMO AWARDS $2.1 MILLION IN GRANTS TO BUILD NEW HOMES AND NEW LIVES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
LOS ANGELES - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced the award of three Youthbuild grants totaling $2.1 million for Los Angeles and Gardena.
Cuomo was in Los Angeles for a groundbreaking to highlight the awarding of three of these grants to non-profit organizations in Southern California. The three grants, worth $2,098,350, will be used to train 98 high school dropouts in Los Angeles and Gardena in the construction trades; to build and renovate low-income housing; and to support themselves.
The grants, awarded under HUD's Youthbuild Program, will fund the construction of 106 homes and help 98 participants receive high school equivalency diplomas, providing on-the-job training in homebuilding skills that will qualify the young people for careers as construction workers. Cuomo announced the funding during the first day of a three-day swing through 20 California cities.
The Youthbuild participants, ranging in age from 16 to 24, will acquire their construction skills by building single-family homes, town homes and residential housing units. The units will then be sold to low- and moderate-income families, providing them with needed affordable housing.
"This program brings new hope to high school dropouts, enabling them to build housing for families in need while building new careers and new lives for themselves," Cuomo said. "Through these non-profits, Youthbuild is helping young people work their way out of poverty."
Youth Employment Systems, Inc., of Los Angeles, received a grant of $698,350 to build 36 town homes and train 30 participants who will learn on-site construction skills by working to build 36 town homes for low-income families in the South Central Los Angeles Empowerment Zone area. This grant is expected to stimulate other public/private investment and other in-kind services totaling about $5.8 million.
Key participants include: Jordan Lake Community Adult School, Bradley/Milken Youth and FamilyCenter, Kedren Community Health Center, Inc., Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center, Weingart Urban Center YMCA, Department of Children and Family Services, Foundation for Enterprise Development, Amer-I-Can Foundation and the City of Los Angeles Community Development Department.
The Century Center for Economic Opportunity in Gardena received a $700,000 grant to build eight affordable single family homes and train 43 participants. Proposed cash and in-kind leveraging resources total $1,478,276 in support of this program. Key participants include Nationwide Construction Co., Goodwill Industries, Valverde Construction, Ace Fence Co., Star West Construction Salvation Army, Bank of America, County of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Housing Authority, and Weber Financial Services.
The Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE), Los Angeles, received a $700,000 Youthbuild grant, its fifth, to build 62 new residential housing units and train 25 participants. The program will target youth from the Filipino-American community. Proposed cash and in-kind leveraging resources total $558,125 to support this program. Key participants include: California Charter Academy, Youthbuild, USA Americorps Project and others.
Cuomo will give the keynote speech Monday in Los Angeles at Creating Partnerships for Renewed Hope, a HUD-sponsored conference that will bring together community and faith-based organizations, public officials, business leaders and HUD officials. Cuomo's trip concludes Tuesday in Los Angeles at Closing the Gap: Investing in America's Communities, an economic development conference that will focus on effective strategies, tools, and resources for creating partnerships that address the needs of America's distressed communities.
More than $193 million in grants have been made under Youthbuild since it began in 1993.
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