Over 110 young people from YouthBuild programs across the United States gathered in Arlington County, Virginia earlier this week for the 28th Annual YouthBuild AmeriCorps Conference of Young Leaders.
YouthBuild USA and AmeriCorps programs around the country are joining the Corporation for National Community Service in celebrating AmeriCorps Week 2016.
Seventy YouthBuild students from Arizona, Mexico and El Salvador met in San Luis today for the program’s first transnational event. YouthBuild students and graduates joined together to build walls for two green homes that will be owned by low-income families.
At the end of 2015, Congress enacted and the President signed an $84.5 million appropriation for the DOL YouthBuild program for Fiscal Year 2016. In doing so, Congress was responding positively to the efforts by YouthBuild’s champions in Congress -- Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in the Senate, and in House of Representatives Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) and Congressman Bob Dold (R-IL).
This year marked the 50th anniversary of AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) and a year-long celebration of the national service program’s powerful impact on communities across the country. Over the last 50 years VISTA has placed passionate and innovative volunteers at nonprofits in urban and rural communities with the goal of advancing solutions to end poverty.
Representatives from YouthBuild USA and YouthBuild programs attended Greenbuild 2015, the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. This year’s event took place in Washington, D.C. from November 16 to November 21.
