News Release

HUD Announces $1.4 Million To Help Dozens Of Young People In Metro Kansas City Get A New Start In Life
Two youth program grants will create affordable housing

KANSAS CITY, KS – Dozens of low-income young people in the metro Kansas City area will return to school and begin new careers in the homebuilding trades due to $1.4 million in grants announced today by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Two grants to Kansas City metro programs will help these young people graduate high school, train them for a future in the construction trades and will produce affordable homes for lower income families, many facing homelessness. The grants are part of more than $58 million in funding awarded nationwide through HUD's Youthbuild Program.

“I’m thrilled that HUD can play such an important role in helping these young people earn their high school diplomas while introducing them to high-demand skills that will ensure their economic futures,” said HUD Regional Director Macie Houston. “This is a win-win program since the young people will use the construction skills learned to produce more affordable housing in the metro Kansas City area.”

The two grants were awarded to the following local organizations:

• Swope Community Builders in Kansas City, Missouri received $700,000 to train 60 youth and build two houses. Swope will partner with Full Employment Council to carry out its program.
• United Way of Wyandotte County, Inc. in Kansas City, Kansas also received $700,000 from HUD to train 65 youth and to construct two houses. United Way is partnering with the Kansas City, Kansas Housing Authority, Kaw Valley Habitat for Humanity, Economic Opportunity Foundation, YWCA of Greater Kansas City and the Mental Health Association.

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, 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.