YouthBuild Construction Trades Training
Motto: Rebuilding Our Communities and Our Lives
YouthBuild USA is a national program that has been assisting low-income communities since 1996. The YouthBuild Construction Trades Training program at Emerson Park Development Corporation (EPDC) has helped disadvantaged young people work toward their GED, while learning construction and job skills.
“YouthBuild is really for a more mature student who recognizes that they are interested in doing work with their hands,” says Vickie Forby, Executive Director of EPDC. “It is a pre-apprenticeship program devoted to construction trades, and contributes to the leadership and life skills of an individual so they can be successful, wage earning, working adults.”
YouthBuild students construct affordable housing for their community while obtaining their GED, as well as certifications in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA 10), First Aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Renovation Preparation and Painting (RPP), the Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Trading (PACT), and Green Building through the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).
“Every part of construction is a metaphor for life,” says Forby. “As students rebuild homes for low-income families, they are learning about rebuilding themselves. You must have a solid foundation like a house, have a good skeleton like the home’s frame, take care of your skin like a house has walls, and have a good head on your shoulders like a strong roof. We talk about parenting, personal health, math, reading, literacy, and science in relationship to setting systems such as plumbing and the basics of electrics.”
Today, they are 273 YouthBuild programs internationally that engage approximately 10,000 young adults each year. Programs like the one at EPDC exist in 46 states, Washington DC, and the Virgin Islands. The United Stated Department of Labor and the Illinois Department of Human Services fund EPDC’s YouthBuild programs and certification trainings.
“YouthBuild is really for a more mature student who recognizes that they are interested in doing work with their hands,” says Vickie Forby, Executive Director of EPDC. “It is a pre-apprenticeship program devoted to construction trades, and contributes to the leadership and life skills of an individual so they can be successful, wage earning, working adults.”
YouthBuild students construct affordable housing for their community while obtaining their GED, as well as certifications in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA 10), First Aid, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Renovation Preparation and Painting (RPP), the Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Trading (PACT), and Green Building through the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).
“Every part of construction is a metaphor for life,” says Forby. “As students rebuild homes for low-income families, they are learning about rebuilding themselves. You must have a solid foundation like a house, have a good skeleton like the home’s frame, take care of your skin like a house has walls, and have a good head on your shoulders like a strong roof. We talk about parenting, personal health, math, reading, literacy, and science in relationship to setting systems such as plumbing and the basics of electrics.”
Today, they are 273 YouthBuild programs internationally that engage approximately 10,000 young adults each year. Programs like the one at EPDC exist in 46 states, Washington DC, and the Virgin Islands. The United Stated Department of Labor and the Illinois Department of Human Services fund EPDC’s YouthBuild programs and certification trainings.
For more information about YouthBuild, visit their website: www.youthbuild.org
