PATERSON—U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-08) today announced that the U.S. Department of Labor has awarded the New Jersey Community Development Corporation a $699,600 federal YouthBuild USA grant to provide education and training to at-risk young people.
“Too many of America’s kids never get a chance to recover from misguided decisions they make under difficult circumstances,” stated Pascrell. “YouthBuild gives kids a second chance. It provides an alternate route for kids who drop out of school, feel pressure to join a gang or consider a life of crime over an education or training. Knowing how successful this program has been in Paterson and knowing the challenges that YouthBuild has helped so many young people overcome, I am thrilled with this newest round of funding. I look forward to seeing Paterson’s YouthBuilders continue their good work and continue to serve as a source of pride in this city.”
YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses core issues facing low-income communities: housing, education, employment, crime prevention, and leadership development. In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas, learn job skills and serve their communities by building affordable housing, and transform their own lives and roles in society.
The Paterson Great Falls YouthBuild was one of 183 community groups to share $114 million worth of grant funding. In New Jersey, grants were also awarded to groups in Newark, Trenton and Camden. Included in this round of YouthBuild funding was $47 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC) is thrilled to continue its involvement with YouthBuild USA as one of only four statewide grantees of funds allocated through a competitive process from the U.S. Department of Labor," stated Bob Guarasci, NJCDC President. "Great Falls YouthBuild in Paterson has a proven track record of helping hundreds of youth transform their own lives by giving them new skills, education, meaningful employment and creative opportunities to give back to the community. In our program, young people are provided GED instruction as well as leadership and practical vocational training. In turn, these graduates give back to the community by building affordable housing, improving neighborhoods, and learning marketable skills that add value to the community and place them in permanent jobs. As an organization, we believe strongly in the YouthBuild model because it provides a positive alternative to gang involvement and other at-risk behaviors - all of which are critical elements of Governor Corzine's statewide crime prevention strategy. We are thankful to the Department of Labor and YouthBuild USA for helping us support seventy more youth in Passaic County as they make positive choices in the present while building an extraordinary future."
"We are also grateful to Congressman Pascrell for his steadfast support of the YouthBuild program, both nationally and locally," concluded Guarasci, citing Pascrell’s consistent support for YouthBuild. In April, Pascrell joined a bipartisan group of 75 representatives in recommending YouthBuild be funded at a level of $170 million in the next fiscal year. President Obama’s budget proposal for FY2010 has YouthBuild funded at $114M, showing a 62% increase over the regular FY2009 appropriation.
###
|