At-Risk Teens on Path to Self-Sufficiency

YouthBuild students show off a house they are converting into affordable rental units.

Community Teamworks Incorporated (CTI), an agency committed to helping low-income residents become self-sufficient, recently received a $700,000 grant for its YouthBuild program. The funding will be used to train 65 youth and to construct two new rental housing units in Lowell, Massachusetts.

YouthBuild grants are awarded competitively to give young people ages 16-24 who never finished high school a second chance to receive their diplomas. These grants help train the participants for a future in the construction trades while producing or rehabilitating homes for lower income families, many facing homelessness.

HUD Regional Director Taylor Caswell joins US Rep. Marty Meehan to present a $700,000 grant to YouthBuild Lowell.

Since 1999, CTI's YouthBuild Program has provided training to 215 students. The program is a 10-month cycle where the students alternate between one week in the classroom and one week at the construction site.

HUD Regional Director Taylor Caswell and US Rep. Marty Meehan made the announcement at a house that is currently being converted into three affordable condo units using previous YouthBuild funding. Visit HUD's website to learn more about the YouthBuild program.