As a general contractor based in Kitsap County, Disney & Associates hopes the construction trailer will help the young people participating in the YouthBuild program to have more of what they need to learn building skills and open up employment opportunities.
About YouthBuild
Founded in 1990, YouthBuild is a non-profit organization that volunteers to help youth gain job training in over 40 states nationwide and 18 countries globally.
“YouthBuild is a community-based pre-apprenticeship program that provides job training and educational opportunities for at-risk youth ages 16-24 who have previously dropped out of high school,” explains the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Through the YouthBuild program, “Youth learn vocational skills in construction, as well as in other in-demand industries,” says the DOL. “Youth also provide community service through the required construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing for low-income or homeless families in their own neighborhoods. Youth split their time between the vocational training work site and the classroom, where they earn their high school diploma or equivalency degree.”
YouthBuild operates in the Kitsap area with grant funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration.
The program is run through the Olympic Educational Service District 114 (OESD 114) and invites out-of-school youths between the ages of 17 and 21 who have yet to acquire a high school diploma or GED to sign up.
On the OESD 114 YouthBuild Student Stories page, one participant in the program named Eddy F. comments, “I tell people that YouthBuild Kitsap is a fun experience and a great way to help you find a career in construction. I tell them how it helps you learn and gain new skills, but the biggest lesson that I took out of YouthBuild is that hard work pays off. When you truly focus and put all your time and effort into a project, it is very satisfying and rewarding knowing that you’ve done something worthwhile.”
Young adults taking part in the YouthBuild Kitsap program have the opportunity to gain hands-on, real-world experience in the construction trade and obtain their GED or diploma.
About Disney Homes
Disney Homes is excited about what YouthBuild is doing to help equip the young adults in our community with essential life skills. This type of training is invaluable and allows participants to gain the experience and education to provide for themselves and their families. It also offers young people an opportunity to experience the satisfaction of working hard and seeing the results.
That’s why Disney & Associates are happy to support the program by donating a construction trailer to the local YouthBuild group. With more tools in hand, the Disney Homes team hopes that the YouthBuild program will have more of the resources needed to prepare young people to find good jobs in the local construction industry. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact Disney Homes.
