Current building
At this time of year, many of us are looking for something inspiring to get us in the holiday spirit. That “something” came for me during a recent partnership announcement between Saint-Gobain, CertainTeed and YouthBuild USA.
It was a very cold day in North Philadelphia. Representatives from Saint-Gobain, CertainTeed, the City of Philadelphia and YouthBuild stood on the street in front of a corner home that had been vacant for 20 years. That vacancy is destined to end soon, because the house will be renovated by the YouthBuild Charter School of Philadelphia with support from Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed. When completed, this building will again be an affordable home that is may be LEED certified, for a first-time homebuyer.
Artist rendering of renovation
But it was not the partnership or the scope of the project that inspired me. It was seeing and hearing the excitement in the nearly 200 teens and young adults who are part of the YouthBuild Charter School and who will work on this project. These students had dropped out of high school but, realizing that they needed to make a change in their lives, found their way to YouthBuild. Together with the YouthBuild staff, they are studying for their GED and learning skills in the building trades that will help them secure jobs when they finish the program. That was inspiring!
Two of the students shared their stories; teen pregnancy, substance abuse, criminal activity – you get the idea. You could feel that their stories were representative of most of the students braving the cold, winter air. The spirit on the street was overwhelming and particularly so when Dorothy Stoneman, president and founder of the YouthBuild USA program spoke about their commitment. That was inspiring!
YouthBuild was started by Stoneman in East Harlem, New York in 1978 to address core issues facing low-income communities – housing, education, employment, crime prevention, leadership development and she has seen the program grow to 273 programs in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the Virgin Islands. 92,000 YouthBuild students have built 19,000 units of affordable, increasingly green, housing since 1994. That was inspiring!
As this partnership develops and our experts, like our main blogger Lucas Hamilton, help train YouthBuild students in green techniques, product knowledge and best practices in building we will share more inspiration. Have you been inspired recently?
