YouthBuild, a youth and community development program that addresses core issues facing low-income communities, has created a permanent YouthBuild AmeriCorps program in Gulfport, Mississippi. The YouthBuild AmeriCorps Katrina Rebuilding Project program aims to serve the Gulf Coast community for the long-term and to guide the participation of local youth in the ongoing reconstruction of their community, as well as their lives, including joint activities with the other YouthBuild programs and local community partners.
Following Hurricane Katrina, YouthBuild AmeriCorps Graduate Volunteer Corps, members who had graduated from the YouthBuild program, and rotating crews of more than 140 YouthBuild AmericaCorps students from across the nation restored over 140 homes within a year. The YouthBuild AmeriCorps Katrina Rebuilding Project was supported by a $2.9 million grant from The Home Depot, U.S. Navy Seabees, Gulf Coast Community Action Agency and many other individual donors.
The permanent YouthBuild AmeriCorps program in Gulfport will be funded by the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Services. It will provide 35 YouthBuild AmeriCorps members with an opportunity to earn their GEDs, gain hands-on construction experience, receive a living allowance while learning and obtain an education award for post-secondary schooling.
Since 1994, more than 76,000 YouthBuild students have produced 19,000 units of low-income housing. Today, there are more than 242 YouthBuild programs in 43 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, engaging approximately 8,000 young adults each year.
For more information about participating in or supporting the YouthBuild program, please visit www.youthbuild.org.
