In Youth Build programs, low-income young people ages 16–24 work toward
their GED or high school diploma while learning job skills by building
affordable housing for homeless and low-income people. Strong emphasis is
placed on leadership development and community service.
All Youth Build students are poor and many have had experience with foster
care, juvenile justice, welfare, and homelessness. Participants spend 6 to
24 months in the full-time program, dividing their time between the
construction site and the Youth Build alternative school. Community- and
faith-based nonprofit organizations sponsor most programs, although some are
sponsored by public agencies. Each Youth Build program raises private and
public funds to support itself. Primary support comes from the U.S.
Department of Labor through a dedicated federal line item.
Youth Build is a youth and community development program that simultaneously
addresses core issues facing low-income communities: housing, education,
employment, crime prevention, and leadership development. In Youth Build
programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high
school diplomas, learn job skills and serve their communities by building
affordable housing, and transform their own lives and roles in society.
