Urban League gets $893,000 for YouthBuild

PROVIDENCE – The U.S. Department of Labor will provide $893,000 to the Urban League of Rhode Island Inc. and YouthBuild Providence to help local youths earn their diplomas while learning valuable construction and job skills.
The grant was announced today by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Norman Orodenker, the Urban League’s board chairman. They were joined for the 10 a.m. news conference, at the League’s Prairie Avenue headquarters, by prospective YouthBuild participants.

“On behalf of the Urban League of Rhode Island, I would like to thank Senator Reed for his unwavering support of YouthBuild and the Urban League,” Orodenker said in a statement today. “Our YouthBuild program gives kids the opportunity to get an education and learn important job-training and leadership skills. This federal funding will allow us to expand our efforts and continue making a positive difference in the community and the lives of these young adults.”
The Urban League’s YouthBuild program was one of 96 YouthBuild USA affiliates nationwide to share $47 million in federal assistance in this round of grants, said Reed, a longtime supporter of the program.
But YouthBuild USA noted that 151 existing programs – including YouthBuild Fall River and YouthBuild New Bedford – and another 65 qualified applicants received no federal funding this year. More than 14,000 qualified young people were turned away from existing programs last year.

YouthBuild aims to help low-income, unemployed and undereducated residents ages 16 to 24 to rebuild their communities while rebuilding their lives. The parent organization, YouthBuild USA, was ranked among the nation’s 12 best nonprofit organizations in a survey of CEOs of nearly 3,000 nonprofits by author Steve Case, according to his recent book “Forces for Good.”

Participants enroll for terms of 6 to 18 months. The program is half vocational training, teaching students construction skills on the job, while helping to create affordable housing; and half academic, helping students work toward their high school or graduate equivalency diplomas (GEDs). It also requires a commitment to work, education and family.

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The duplex at right, at 85-89 Trask St. in Providence, was completed in 2006 by YouthBuild participants working under the instruction of W&J Associates. Besides the Urban League, the project also received assistance from Youth Build USA, Rhode Island Housing, the City of Providence and others. The two apartments are now managed as affordable housing by the Urban League.
The new federal aid will be used by the Urban League YouthBuild – in partnership with the Rhode Island Indian Council, the Community College of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Housing and other organizations – to recruit and train 34 Native American and inner-city participants for a 10-month program of classes and hands-on training, followed by a year of mentoring.

Since 1993, Congress has provided $700 million to the program, which has leveraged more than $1.5 billion in additional public and private investment, allowing YouthBuild to train more than 76,000 students and produce more than 17,000 units of low-income housing, Reed’s office said.

The Urban League of Rhode Island Inc., founded in 1939, is a nonprofit social service and advocacy organization that focuses on eliminating discrimination and helping minorities and the poor. It is an affiliate of the National Urban League Inc. To learn more, visit www.ulri.org.
YouthBuild USA, founded in 1990, is a national nonprofit organization that supports a nationwide network of 226 local programs, including ones in Providence, Fall River and New Bedford. Participants, ages 16 to 24, work toward their high school diploma or GED while learning construction skills by building affordable housing. To learn more, visit www.youthbuild.org.

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