Contact: Suzanne Fitzgerald
309-827-7507 ext. 2#
Bloomington. IL – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is awarding YouthBuild McLean County $600,000 so hundreds of low-income young adults who have dropped out of high school can earn GEDs or diplomas and go on to complete postsecondary programs, including two- and four-year colleges, technical schools and apprenticeships.
The local grant is a part of a national award to YouthBuild USA of $6,000,000 and part of an ambitious $69 million effort by the Gates Foundation to double the number of low-income students nationwide who earn a college degree or vocational credential by age 26.
In YouthBuild, low-income youth ages 17-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing. Emphasizing leadership development and community service, YouthBuild creates a positive peer group to compete with the lure of the streets while developing new young leaders who have transcended poverty.
While increasing numbers of YouthBuild graduates have enrolled in postsecondary institutions in recent years, fewer of them finish because of financial barriers and other obstacles.
Jason Westhoff, a 2006 graduate of YouthBuild McLean County who went on to complete his associate’s degree from Heartland Community College in December, said YouthBuild helped him achieve success in college.
“YouthBuild has been and still is all that anyone in my position could ever ask for.” said Westhoff, who will continue his studies at Illinois State University. “They provided me with construction training and the support in school that has taken me to places I would have never imagined I could be.”
Through the three-year grant with the Gates Foundation, YouthBuild is testing and putting into place a set of interventions that will ensure high rates of postsecondary enrollment and credential attainment by program graduates.
Program activities within this initiative will dramatically improve the rate at which YouthBuild students graduate with a high school diploma or GED and enroll in and complete postsecondary education and career credential programs.
“We see postsecondary credentialing as a central part of our work – to open the widest set of opportunities for low-income youth to be prepared for the new economy and to provide leadership within their communities,” said Dorothy Stoneman, president and founder of YouthBuild USA.
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YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses the core issues facing low-income communities: housing, education, employment, crime prevention, and leadership development. In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income people and participating in leadership development activities in their communities.
The national YouthBuild network represents an extraordinary public-private partnership. Community- and faith-based nonprofit organizations sponsor most YouthBuild programs; some are sponsored by local public agencies. YouthBuild USA and local YouthBuild programs receive financial support from diverse public and private national and local sources. Primary funding for YouthBuild programs comes from the U.S. Department of Labor under the federal YouthBuild program, administered by the Employment and Training Administration (ETA). For more information, visit www.youthbuild.org.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
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