By DUANE M. ELLING
For three decades, YouthBuild USA has been helping young people complete their high school educations, learn job skills in construction- and housing-related trades, and transform their lives and communities.
The program, with the help of first lady Michelle Obama, recently kicked off the year-long celebration by building an energy-efficient “green” home on the National Mall in Washington DC. Mott President and CEO William S. White also helped mark the anniversary with YouthBuild supporters and participants at an award ceremony in Crystal City, Virginia.
First lady Michelle Obama recently joined YouthBuild participants in building a "green" home. |
YouthBuild was launched in 1978 when several teens in East Harlem, New York, came together to create housing for local homeless youth. The group, guided by Dorothy Stoneman, a former teacher, created the Youth Action Partnership and began renovating abandoned apartments. The resulting impact on both the community and the participants’ job skills soon caught the attention of youth advocates across the country.
The model was renamed YouthBuild in 1990 and today has sites in 226 urban and rural communities around the U.S. It is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive, well-targeted and inspiring programs for young adults ages 16 to 24 years.
The Mott Foundation has made more than $9.7 million in grants related to YouthBuild since 1986.
Stoneman is now president of YouthBuild USA and chairman of the National YouthBuild Coalition, a youth-focused network of over 1,000 member organizations in 42 states, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In a recent blog entry, Stoneman noted that, as with YouthBuild participants, meaningful change is possible when individuals recognize their ability to shape the future.
“In this era of change, of challenge, of hope, of crisis, every one of us can join the new movement of service and civic engagement,” she wrote.