posted August 29, 2008
The Chattanooga Housing Authority is hosting a graduation for participants in its YouthBuild program. YouthBuild is a nine-month job training/educational initiative funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The celebration will be held on Thursday, Sept. 4, at 6 p.m. at the James A. Henry Resource Center located at 1300 Grove St. on the Westside. A reception will take place at 5:30 p.m. Twelve YouthBuild participants will be honored at the ceremony.
“What YouthBuild does is give young adults with limited education an opportunity to continue their education, learn basic construction skills and become equipped to enter the workforce,” said Gary Kelley, CHA’s director of resident services and YouthBuild program manager. “We’re very proud of all the participants who made it to the end of this program cycle. This graduation is just a formal way to join family, friends and our program partners in celebrating their accomplishments.”
YouthBuild is designed for young people ages 16-24 that have dropped out of high school and come from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. Participants are professionally exposed to the construction industry, learning valuable skills needed for the workplace such as carpentry, plumbing, painting, electrical work and landscaping.
They spend half of their time working toward earning their GED with assistance from instructors with Chattanooga State Technical Community College. Program participants also earn a bi-weekly stipend.
YouthBuild is open to all young people in Chattanooga with preference given to public housing residents and participants in the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8).
For more information about the program, call 423 752-4173.
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