First Lady Michelle Obama honored YouthBuild USA by joining us on March 17 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the YouthBuild AmeriCorps Green Homebuilding Service Day. The event, which celebrated YouthBuild’s 30th anniversary, coincided with Congress’s deliberation on the Serve America Act, which was passed by the Senate later that week.
In her inspiring remarks, the First Lady emphasized the importance of including low-income youth in the service movement as people with a great desire and energy to rebuild their own communities. “The message of YouthBuild, is so important: Participating in national and community service is not just an escape for the wealthy or for those students who can afford it,” Mrs. Obama said. “Community service is an integral part of empowering our people and making our communities stronger. And service must become a part of each of our lives.”
Mrs. Obama’s stirring words inspired the more than 100 YouthBuild AmeriCorps young leaders who came to the National Mall from across the country. The service day was sponsored the Wal-Mart Foundation, Bank of America, and the  Corporation for National and Community Service.
The day’s events kicked off with the YouthBuild AmeriCorps Green Homebuilding, which focused on framing an energy-efficient, affordable home that would be sent to Brownsville, Texas, for a family whose home was damaged by Hurricane Dolly. The home serves as a model for 84 additional green homes being developed in a rural Colonias neighborhood by the Community Development Corporation of Brownsville.
Senator John Kerry (D-MA), original sponsor and champion of the federal YouthBuild program since 1992, participated in the day’s ceremonies. Other congressional leaders, including Representatives Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX), Tom Perriello (D-VA), and Tim Ryan (D-OH), stopped by throughout the day to lend a hand. The homebuilding project was led by YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School and Casa Verde YouthBuild, sponsored by American YouthWorks of Austin, Texas.
In a tent adjacent to the home building, young leaders participated in the YouthBuild Green Academy – a series educational and interactive workshops in which participants learned hands-on “green practices” of YouthBuild programs throughout the country. YouthBuild Green Academy stations included energy-efficient lighting, insulated box beam headers, insulation and weatherization, reduce reuse recycle, rooftop gardening, school greening, solar paneling, and sustainable landscaping, as well as viewing the new hybrid 2010 Honda Insight.
 Approximately 100 YouthBuild AmeriCorps members from YouthBuild programs across the country, who were attending the 20th annual YouthBuild Conference of Young Leaders, participated in the day’s events. The AmeriCorps young leaders were joined by students and staff from Latin American Youth Center Public Charter School, NAFFCA YouthBuild, Sasha Bruce YouthBuild, and YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School, as well as teams of employee volunteers from the U.S. Department of Labor, Walmart, and Bank of America.
The highlight of the day was a visit by the First Lady to the YouthBuild Green Academy and YouthBuild AmeriCorps Green Home Building. She interacted with YouthBuild young leaders in the Green Academy and home building, after which she gave an inspirational speech. “It's your core principle that I am so impressed with, of providing opportunities for amazing young people, giving folks a second, and third, and fourth chance, particularly low-income youth,” Mrs. Obama said. “Sometimes we overlook them, we think that they can't be, they can't do. And it's places like YouthBuild that help you to find yourselves and to be reborn in so many ways, and to help rebuild communities all across this country, but to also complete high school and to graduate, and to do some really special things.”
The closing ceremony emceed by Michael Parker, a Youth Action YouthBuild graduate, wrapped up the day’s events on the National Mall. During the closing ceremony YouthBuild young leaders from across the country marched with keys representing the number of housing units completed by YouthBuild programs in each state over the past 30 years.
Ely Flores, a LA CAUSA YouthBuild graduate, captivated the crowd with his speech on green leadership and the service YouthBuild leaders owe their communities. Nina Saxon, another Youth Action YouthBuild graduate and co-author of the green plank in the Declaration of Interdependence, introduced Dorothy Stoneman with a warm and heartfelt poem.
 Speeches were made by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Wal-Mart Foundation President Margaret McKenna, Bank of America Market Executive Patty Brooks-Nobles, Corporation for National and Community Service Board Chair Alan Solomont and Acting CEO Nicola Goren, U.S. Department of Labor representative, Ray Uhalde, YouthBuild USA President Dorothy Stoneman, and Realizing the Dream President, Martin Luther King, III.
After the ceremonial wall-raising, Michael Parker presented the keys to the new home to YouthBuild Brownsville Director Greg Flores. YouthBuild Brownsville students will complete construction of the YouthBuild Green Home in Brownsville and present the home to the Rios family.
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