The Youthbuild program has been carefully designed by community activists with the input of young people in several neighborhoods over 14 years. Young people of many racial and ethnic groups have participated and benefited. It is appealing to groups in rural as well as urban neighborhoods, because it is comprehensive in its approach, the Youthbuild program is a number of things at once. It is a/an:
- Community service program, in which young people get to build housing for homeless and other low-income people, providing the most valuable and visible com- modity for their hard-pressed communities: affordable housing.
- Alternative school, in which participants spend 50 percent of their program time pursuing academic goals, which may include vocational and remedial education, study toward a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma, and preparation for higher education.
- Training and pre-apprenticeship program, in which young people receive on-site training in construction skills during 50 percent of their time in the program from qualified instructors who are often union journeymen, and then get placed in construction-related jobs or apprenticeships.
- Leadership development program, in which young people share in the governance of their own program and participate actively in community affairs, learning the values and the lifelong commitment needed by effective and ethical community leaders.
Lead paint removal certification training
On March 25, 2021, UCC YouthBuild participants attended a Lead paint removal certification training, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to
train renovation, repair, and painting contractors to work safely in housing with lead-based paint and comply with EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule and HUD’s Lead Safe Housing Rule. This course prepares students for certification that complies with EPA’s RRP Rule and HUD’s Lead Safe Housing Rule.
United Community Corporation
"Moving people from dependency to self-sufficiency"
Clubhouse Community Center | 205 Spruce Street
Newark, NJ 07108