What Is YouthBuild?
YouthBuild is a U.S. Department of Labor-funded, non-residential, community-based alternative education program that provides job training and educational opportunities for at-risk youth ages 16-24. Youth in our program will learn construction skills while constructing or rehabilitating affordable housing for low-income or homeless families in their own neighborhoods.
YouthBuild Program at HACC
The Housing Authority of Champaign County YouthBuild program provides education, career services, training, and trade-specific certifications to young adults (between ages 16 and 24), generally high school dropouts. The program consists of 3 components: construction (40%), education (50%), leadership (10%). YouthBuild students spend time on a job site, learning the construction trade with hands-on experiences of building homes for their communities and other small projects. This creates housing for low-income families while giving the students marketable job skills.
Youthbuild students will earn the following construction certifications while in the program: Flaggers, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), and NCCER (National Center for Construction Education and Research). Leadership is taught explicitly in YouthBuild programs, based on the philosophy that young people are not a burden but rather a resource to be tapped.
YouthBuild Annual Report 2021
YouthBuild Annual Report 2020
Because it is comprehensive in its approach, the YouthBuild program is a number of things at once...
It is a community service program, in which young people get to build housing for homeless and other low-income people, providing the most valuable and visible commodity for their hard-pressed communities: affordable housing.
Community Service
It is an 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.
Alternative School
It is a job 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.
Job Training
Top row, left to right:
Jordan Borbely, Vocational Trainer
Jobie Taylor, Outreach & Recruitment Coordinator
Martina Harvey-Harris, Case Manager
Leonard Bryant, Career Specialist
Vincent Andujo, Construction Projects Manager
Bottom row, left to right:
Shevone Myrick, Program Manager
Heather Rose, Grant Manager
Henry Pettigrew, Classroom Aide
- It is a 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.
- It is a youth development program, in which young people participate in personal counseling, peer support groups, and life-planning processes that assist them in healing from past hurts, overcoming negative habits and attitudes, and pursuing achievable goals that will establish a productive life, sustaining themselves and their immediate families.
- It is a long-term mini-community, in which young people make new friends committed to a positive lifestyle, may pursue cultural and recreational activities together, and can continue to participate through follow-up services and a graduates program.
- It is a community development program, in which community organizations obtain the resources to tackle several key community issues at once, strengthening their capacity to build and manage housing for their residents, educate and inspire their youth, create leadership for the future, and generally take responsibility for their neighborhoods.
For More Information about the Housing Authority of Champaign County’s YouthBuild Program lease Contact Shevone Myrick, YouthBuild Program Manager at shevonem@hacc.net.
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Champaign, IL. January 18, 2021. The Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACC) was recently awarded the EnVision Center designation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as part of Secretary Ben Carson’s signature initiative. HACC is excited to announce that the newly awarded EnVision Center will be dedicated to David C. Sankey, the son of Yvonne Johnson, a client on HACC’s program and in remembrance of Mr. Sankey. The dedication of this building solidifies HACC’s commitment to providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing. This event will take place on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., at an undisclosed location for invited guests. Guests will be provided a mask upon entry and a tour around the facility.
HACC David C. Sankey Center for Youth and Community Development was established to promote education and leadership in the Champaign County community. In partnership with CU Fresh Start, the center is focused on preventing unnecessary gun violence through targeted services and supports, including employment, education, training, mentorship, and mental health resources. The David C. Sankey Center will be a HUB for local non-profit groups to engage in activities that enrich underserved populations’ culture and climate. “It takes more than just housing assistance to change the lives of our clients said Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer David A. Northern, Sr. “This facility will offer a more holistic housing approach by connecting HUD-assisted families with the tools they need to become more self-sufficient and to flourish.”
HACC intends to operate the YouthBuild Program in the EnVision Center, which is a community-based pre-apprenticeship program designed to offer a unique second chance to young people. This program is funded to serve 84 at-risk and disadvantaged youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are high school dropouts, adjudicated youth, youth aging out of foster care, youth with disabilities, homeless youth, and other disconnected youth populations. The Youth Build Program will provide basic education, occupational training, and leadership training while addressing several core issues important to low-income communities: affordable housing, education, employment, and leadership development. This facility will feature a construction and trades facility, four office spaces, three classroom spaces, a computer lab, and a community food pantry and clothing closet. Board Chairman, Dr. Grant G. Henry expressed the following remarks, “If we succeed in helping more families become self-sufficient, they will reduce dependency on federal, state, and local programs. The David C. Sankey Center for Youth and Community Development is our way of bringing hope and opportunity and serves as a springboard to success for families on our program.”
For more information, please contact the Housing Authority of Champaign County at (217) 378-7100.
About the Housing Authority of Champaign County: The Housing Authority of Champaign County (HACC) is a municipal corporation organized according to the Illinois Housing Authority Act. The jurisdiction of HACC includes all incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county of Champaign, Illinois. In 2010, HACC became one of only 39 public housing authorities in the country to be designated as a Moving to Work (MTW) Agency. Today, HACC has had extensive development and management experience and developed over $100 million of new affordable housing through mixed financing methods. Besides, HACC has administered over 1,200tenant-based vouchers, a homeownership program, and a rental assistance program for homeless veterans. HACC also administers a multitude of resident support and service programs under various HUD and non-HUD grants.
For emergency COVID-19 related updates, please visit us at https://hacc.net/emergency-updates-covid-19/. For social media updates, please visit us on Facebook at Housing Authority of Champaign County, Housing Authority of Champaign County Enrichment Foundation, and Housing Authority of Champaign County YouthBuild. For more information visit www.hacc.net and for questions/concerns, please contact concerns@hacc.net or 217-378-7100 ext. 5001.
Champaign, IL. January 11, 2021. The Housing Authority of Champaign County’s (HACC) YouthBuild Program held its first commencement ceremony on January 9, 2021.HACC YouthBuild is a community-based, pre-apprenticeship program designed to offer a unique second chance to at-risk youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are high school dropouts, adjudicated youth, youth aging out of foster care, youth with disabilities, homeless youth, and other disconnected youth populations. YouthBuild provides basic education, occupational training, and leadership development while addressing several core issues important to low-income communities: affordable housing, education, and employment.
The Housing Authority of Champaign County celebrated nineteen young adults who each graduated with a high school diploma, OSHA, Flaggers, and NCCER certifications. CEO David A. Northern, Sr. expressed the following remarks: “Young people come to YouthBuild because they haven’t found success elsewhere and they believe that YouthBuild can help them to finish their education and find a future career or academic path. ”In addition to basic education, YouthBuild members complete over 570 hours of community service and more than 3,200 hours of hands-on work experience rehabilitating affordable housing. The skills acquired by young people during their time in the program can be applied to secondary education or career options in the future ultimately leading to self-sufficiency.
To remain in compliance with social distancing requirements, the graduation ceremony was streamed via Facebook live and the link is currently available on the HACC Youth Build’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HACCYouthBuild/videos/3661690453907774/.
The YouthBuild program is currently recruiting for its next cohort set to begin on February 1, 2021. Board Chairman, Dr. Grant G. Henry, spoke during the ceremony highlighting the program’s early successes stating: “YouthBuild members have succeeded based on the wide array of needs the program is able to meet such as supportive services, legal aid, case management, and general guidance from program staff as they attend classes, learn job skills, and become active and engaged in the expansion of affordable housing.”
YouthBuild is funded through a grant from the United States Department of Labor. For more information, please contact the Housing Authority of Champaign County at (217) 378-7100.
About the Housing Authority of Champaign County: The Housing Authority of Champaign County(HACC) is a municipal corporation organized according to the Illinois Housing Authority Act. The jurisdiction of HACC includes all incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county of Champaign, Illinois. In 2010, HACC became one of only 39 public housing authorities in the country to be designated as a Moving to Work (MTW) Agency. Today, HACC has had extensive development and management experience and developed over $100 million of new affordable housing through mixed financing methods. Besides, HACC has administered over 1,200tenant-based vouchers, a homeownership program, and a rental assistance program for homeless veterans. HACC also administers a multitude of resident support and service programs under various HUD and non-HUD grants.
For emergency COVID-19 related updates, please visit us at https://hacc.net/emergency-updates-covid-19/. For social media updates, please visit us on Facebook at Housing Authority of Champaign County, Housing Authority of Champaign County Enrichment Foundation, and Housing Authority of Champaign County YouthBuild. For more information visit www.hacc.net and for questions/concerns, please contact concerns@hacc.net or 217-378-7100 ext. 5001.
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