Chester YouthBuild was created to offer economically and socially vulnerable young adults the opportunity to become self-sufficient, responsible, contributing members of the community by providing the opportunity to: develop academic skills; learn construction trade skills; develop leadership skills; and lifelong employment search skills, while increasing the supply of affordable housing in the City of Chester, PA. Achieving Chester YouthBuild’s goal requires a comprehensive approach to training and support services that continuously promotes the prospect for self-sufficiency and gainful employment.
Chester YouthBuild started in 1993 when a number of community activists began exploring ways to address high youth unemployment and lack of affordable housing in Chester, PA. This group identified the YouthBuild model as appropriate for their community and turned to Resources for Human Development, Inc. (RHD) for assistance. The coalition of activists has become the Community Advisory Board for Chester YouthBuild and is responsible for charting the present and future direction of the organization in partnership with RHD.
For the past ten years, Chester YouthBuild has demonstrated its capacity by serving over 230 young adults. Eligible participants for Chester YouthBuild are males and females between the ages of 17-24, who are at high risk of dropping out of or have not completed high school, are currently unemployed or under-employed, are very low-income or from very low-income families, and reside in the Chester-Upland School District. Sixty percent of the youth that have entered the program have been single parents, 30-40% had some criminal involvement, 50% have used or are currently using drugs and/or alcohol, 20% are or have been homeless, and 50% have received some type of federal assistance.
The 2005-2006 goals for the Chester YouthBuild program are as follows:
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To provide academic instruction, counseling and linkages to support service and job training in construction, to thirty young people within the program’s target area and population.
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Rehabilitate one-two single-family homes in the City of Chester to increase the availability of affordable housing for low to moderate-income families.
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Successfully place 80% of the students who complete the program in jobs or post secondary education/advance training programs.
To accomplish these goals, the Chester YouthBuild program provides an intensive nine-month program, which consists of five components: Education, Vocational Instruction/On-Site Construction Training, Counseling and Support Services, Leadership/Life Skills Development, and Career Development. Below is a summary of the program’s five components.
Education
The education component, taught by certified teachers, contains three tracks: basic skills development, GED preparation, and high school diploma preparation. Class size is limited to fifteen students so that a personalized learning environment can be created and maintained.
Vocational Instruction/On-site Construction Training
The vocational training curriculum focuses on two specific areas: construction and business. Ninety percent of the construction training occurs at actual housing construction sites around the city. While students are transforming boarded-up properties into a place for a family to live, they now have the opportunity to practice their newly acquired skills exposing them to a variety of trades. The business training concentrates on two areas: office administration and entrepreneurialship. Students learn how to manage an office from basic verbal and written communication, filing, inventory, and computer skills. The entrepreneurial instruction is an introduction to starting and managing a business, teaching students about business plans, goals and financing.
Counseling/Leadership Development Activities
Most of the young adults entering the program experience lives that consist of moving from one crisis to another. These young people have been taught by their previous life experiences that they are not leaders, nor are they destined to become leaders. Therefore, the major focus of the YouthBuild program is on reversing the negative self-image and sense of powerlessness of each participant, to help them break out of old ways of thinking and discover new capacities within themselves. The leadership component of the program seeks to accomplish three goals: life skill development, provision of leadership experiences, and increased community involvement. The Counseling component uses a case management approach to working with YouthBuild trainees by focusing on continual assessment, resource development, referral, and support service linkage.
Career Development/Supportive Employment
The concept of career development begins during the orientation phase in which trainees are given an introduction to entrepreneurship, the various trades and the importance of developing a strong work ethic. To assist the trainees in exploring career options and goals, the program utilizes various community resources and devotes significant time to developing a bank of potential employers and to preparing the trainees to enter the work world.
Graduate Support Services, Internships and Follow-Up
The Graduate Support Services component offers trainees the necessary foundation to continue their progress towards self-sufficiency. This component of the program is structured to create a resource and support center providing part-time on-site construction internships; access to college entrance criteria, financial aid information, scholarship programs, trade schools and apprenticeship programs; updated job bank; an advocate/job coach; peer support groups; social activities; and life skills counseling. For trainees who have not completed their high school education by the time they graduate from the YouthBuild program, tutoring is provided as well.
The Chester YouthBuild administrative office and classroom is located in the center city area of Chester at One East Ninth Street (corner of 9th & Sproul Streets), the hours of operation are Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. To provide the comprehensive services above, the program has a professional staff, which consists of six full-time positions. A full YouthBuild program cycle consists of ten months of education and job training and three-six months of follow-up support services to twenty to twenty-four young adults.