News Release

HUD'S YOUTHBUILD PROGRAM DELIVERS $1.4 MILLION FOR SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP TRAINING IN NEW JERSEY
Young people in Newark and Camden to Benefit

NEWARK - Approximately 115 New Jersey youngsters who never finished high school will get a second chance to receive their diplomas because of $1.4 million in grants announced today by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson. The monies are being awarded to Youthbuild Newark, Inc. and the Housing Authority of the City of Camden. The grants are part of $45.5 million being awarded to non-profit groups nationwide under HUD's Youthbuild Program, which offers job training and leadership skills to young people while putting them back on a path toward graduation.

The grants will help train 115 youth, between the ages of 16-24, for a future in the construction trades while rehabilitating 13 homes for lower income families, many facing homelessness.

"This funding will offer hope and opportunity to young men and women across the country," said Jackson. "Youthbuild enables them to return to the classroom, acquire construction skills and put their minds and hands to work producing more affordable housing in their own communities."

Young people who enroll in local Youthbuild programs lack high school diplomas and the job skills necessary to find meaningful employment. The funding announced today will help young men and women, ages 16-to-24, to receive their high school equivalency diplomas and provide them training in homebuilding skills that will qualify them for careers in the building industry.

Program participants will receive on-the-job training in the building trades and help build and renovate homes that are then sold at affordable prices to low- and very low-income persons as well as to homeless individuals and families. In addition, these grants are anticipated to generate millions of additional dollars from other public and private sources.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.

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NOTE: The following New Jersey organizations were awarded funding through HUD's Youthbuild Program:

Youthbuild Newark, Inc, will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable Youthbuild Newark, Inc. to train 50 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to rehabilitate three houses. Youthbuild Newark's major partners include The Apostles House, Covenant House of New Jersey, New Jersey Institute of Social Justice, Newark Workforce Investment Board, State of New Jersey Juvenile Intensive Supervision Program, and Women in Support of the Million Man March.

Housing Authority of the City of Camden will receive a Youthbuild grant in the amount of $700,000. The grant will enable the Housing Authority of the City of Camden to train 65 youth between the ages of 16-24 and to rehabilitate 10 houses. United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Local Union #1578 and Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local #5 are two of the major partners for the Housing Authority of the City of Camden.