Construction Training

YouthBuild Boston's construction training program teaches Boston's 18-24-year-old unemployed and unskilled young people to renovate abandoned buildings into affordable housing for low-income families. YouthBuild Boston offers these young people a second chance to obtain the educational, occupational, social, and leadership skills they need to assume full responsibility for themselves and their families. As a private, non-profit, community-based organization, YouthBuild Boston is committed to helping a population too often described by the negative statistics of poverty, crime and violence.

YouthBuild Boston offers participants the opportunity to transform both their lives and their community. YBB is a multidisciplinary program that addresses the academic, vocational, job training and personal/social needs and interests of participants. Participants can acquire the academic credentials as well as the construction training skills necessary for them to become self-sufficient contributing members of society.

YouthBuild Boston's activities take place in two arenas-the school site and the work site, through which participants rotate on a biweekly basis. The school site consists of four components:

1. Academics- Students can pursue either their GED or receive a high school diploma through the External Diploma Program of the Boston Public Schools
2. Vocational education- Students learn the theory and core construction skills in YouthBuild Boston's vocational education facilities. In conjunction with the North Bennett Street School, students have the opportunity to take electives such as carpentry preservation and locksmithing
3. Life skills- Staff expose students to a variety of classes such as finance and budgeting, goal setting, resume writing, interview skills, problem-solving techniques that better prepare students to take responsibility for themselves and their family
4. Counseling- Staff provides one-on-one counseling for each participant in which they assist in goal setting, identifying barriers to success and overcoming challenges.

The work site is where the students put theory into practice and perform their community service hours as AmeriCorps members. Under the tutelage of three construction instructors, students renovate an abandoned property into a habitable dwelling for low-income first time homebuyers.

Depending on the individual within 6-10 months, trainees are ready to be either job-placed, enroll in institutions of higher education, and/or join a union. Graduates have gone on to Wentworth Institute, Lee Kennedy Construction, the Boston Housing Authority, Suffolk University, Bovis Lend Lease and Continental Construction just to name a few. A graduate's average starting salary is $11.00 per hour, which is above Boston's living wage.

For more information contact Amos Andrews or Ivy Taylor

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