Department of Labor Criminal Justice Re-Entry Grants
YouthBuild USA receives a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to support local YouthBuild programs in serving as effective re-entry programs for youth offenders, and to reduce the recidivism rate. In 2004-2005 YouthBuild USA distributed $4.96 million to local YouthBuild sites in grants ranging from $80,000 to $273,000.
AmeriCorps National Direct Grants
Affiliated YouthBuild programs --engaged in service to their communities by building low-income housing and/or bridging the digital divide by refurbishing computers for distribution to low-income individuals and community-based organizations-- are eligible to apply to participate in the AmeriCorps National Direct program. YouthBuild sites accepted into the AmeriCorps program receive a cash award to support service activities, payment of member stipends and related program operating costs. YouthBuild programs’ National Direct grant awards have typically been between $150,000 and $250,000 and in 2004-2005 totaled over $3.6 million.
AmeriCorps Education Awards Program
Affiliated YouthBuild programs are eligible to receive education awards for postsecondary education amounting to $2,300 for each of their graduates who fulfill 900 hours of service and up to $4,725 for those completing 1700 hours. There are no administrative or program costs included, but this is a key opportunity for students in affiliated YouthBuild programs. In 2004-2005 these grants to YouthBuild AmeriCorps members amounted to almost $2.2 million in scholarship funds for participants.
HUD Capacity Building Grants
Each year YouthBuild USA distributes grants to assist sites in a variety of capacity-building efforts. These capacity-building funds are appropriated by Congress as a set-aside to YouthBuild USA and require a 3:1 match of private funds. In 2004 $395,000 was distributed in grants ranging from $10,000-$40,000. They are passed through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to YouthBuild USA.
National Schools Initiative
The National Schools Initiative is a five year school improvement and school launch initiative funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. YouthBuild USA works with selected YouthBuild schools and programs to help strengthen their education capacity, provide teacher and instructional leader training, technical assistance, coaching and pass-through funding with an eye towards preparing all YouthBuild students to obtain high school diplomas and be college and career ready.
Rural Initiative Grants
In October 2005, the Bank of America Foundation awarded YouthBuild USA a $300,000 two-year grant to provide pass-through grants to six rural YouthBuild programs located in western states and to provide unrestricted support for YouthBuild USA. Annually, each of these six rural YouthBuild programs will receive a $20,000 unrestricted pass-through grant. YouthBuild Guadalupe sponsored by the Town of Guadalupe AZ; YouthBuild Santa Rosa sponsored by Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa CA; YouthBuild Albuquerque sponsored by Youth Building Better Lives, Inc., Albuquerque NM; CSC YouthBuild sponsored by Community Services Consortium, Lebanon OR; New Waverly YouthBuild sponsored by Walker Montgomery Community Development Corporation, New Waverly TX; and YouthBuild Brownsville sponsored by Community Development Corporation of Brownsville TX. Michelle Courton Brown, senior vice president, Bank of America, is a member of the Board of Directors of YouthBuild USA.
Green Building Grants
In 2005 YouthBuild USA received a $25,000 grant from The Home Depot Foundation to launch a national Green Building Initiative. The goal of the grant is to provide training and informational resources to YouthBuild programs about construction techniques that incorporate environmental considerations at every phase of the home building process, including low-impact lot development, resource efficient building design and materials, indoor environmental quality. With this initiative, YouthBuild USA is offering a limited number of travel scholarships up to $500 per site to attend a national green building training taught by our partners at Casa Verde YouthBuild.
Other Opportunities
YouthBuild USA is constantly searching for new pass-through grant opportunities for its affiliated local programs and will notify Affiliates of new opportunities, as they become available. In the past these have included grants from institutions such as: DOL Welfare-to-Work, Home Depot, MetLife, The Voter Engagement Project, and graduate research study grants.
YouthBuild Loan Fund
The YouthBuild Loan Fund, established with funding from the Ford Foundation, offers YouthBuild programs the opportunity to obtain lines of credit, bridge loans, loans against YouthBuild USA pass-through grants, and real estate development loans to address program needs. In 2005 YouthBuild USA made $1.4 million in loans to local YouthBuild Programs.
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