YouthBuild Program 

Coming in Spring 2009

What is YouthBuild?

Youth Haven’s YouthBuild is a comprehensive youth and community development program.  YouthBuild simultaneously addresses several core issue facing homeless and low-income youth in our communities: education, housing, jobs, and leadership development.  It uniquely addresses that status of unemployed young men and women who have dropped out of school and have no apparent path to a productive future.  It allows them to simultaneously serve their communities and build their own future.

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.

Our YouthBuild program contains three basic components: 1) Educational and Job Training Services 2) Leadership Training, Counseling, and Other Support Activities 3) On-site Training through actual Housing Rehabilitation or Construction Work

Program Components:

Our YouthBuild Programs
In Youth Haven’s YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16–24 work toward
their GED or high school diploma while learning job skills by building or renovating affordable
housing for homeless and low-income people. Strong emphasis is placed on leadership
development and community service.

All YouthBuild students are poor, or low-income, and many have had experience with
foster care, juvenile justice, welfare, and homelessness. Participants spend 6 to 24 months in the full-time program, dividing their time between the construction site and the YouthBuild alternative school. Community- and faith-based nonprofit organizations like Youth Haven Ranch in Pleasant Valley, Inc. sponsor most programs, although some are sponsored by public agencies.

Each YouthBuild program raises private and public funds to support itself. Primary support
comes from the U.S. Department of Labor through a dedicated federal line item. Because a
comprehensive approach is called for, the YouthBuild program has gradually and inevitably
become a number of things at once:

An Alternative School, in which young people attend a YouthBuild school full-time on
alternate weeks, studying for their GEDs or high school diplomas. Classes are small, allowing
one-on-one attention to students.

A Community Service Program, in which young people build housing for homeless and
other low-income people, providing a valuable and visible commodity for their hard-pressed
communities.

A Job Training and Pre-Apprenticeship Program, in which young people get close
supervision and training in construction skills full-time on alternate weeks from qualified
 instructors.

A Leadership Development and Civic Engagement Program, in which young people
share in the governance of their own program through an elected policy committee and
participate actively in community affairs, learning the values and the life-long commitment
needed to be effective and ethical community leaders.

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.

A Long-Term Mini-Community, in which young people make new friends committed to a
positive lifestyle, pursue cultural and recreational activities together, and can continue to
 participate for years through the YouthBuild Alumni Association.

A Community Development Program, in which community-based 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, prevent crime,
create leadership for the future, and generally take responsibility for their neighborhoods.

Youth Haven’s First YouthBuild Project will be the construction of the Youth Haven Ranch transitional living facility for homeless and runaway youth; located right on the Youth Haven Ranch property in Pleasant Valley Township. The construction project should begin in late Spring or Summer of 2009.

All youth ages 16 to 24 interested in participation in Youth Haven Ranch’s YouthBuild Program
are invited to apply to participate by contacting our ranch office by phone,
Monday thru Friday, 9:00AM to 3:00PM, at 815-847-3414, or
email Jeffrey or Stephanie Moody at:  YouthHavenRanch@netzero.net.