The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the award of approximately $85 million to 81 organizations nationwide for YouthBuild programs. Job Point will receive $1.1 million from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) over a three year period to enhance its YouthBuild activities in Boone County.
Job Point’s YouthBuild grant will assist 67 at-risk young adults to advance educational levels, develop leadership abilities, and obtain skills training in the construction field, while building new homes in our community’s most impoverished neighborhoods and improving infrastructure by maintaining and repairing roadways. The program will address the core issues facing our communities of poverty, graduation rates, unemployment, crime rates and safe, affordable housing. The primary target population is high school dropouts, adjudicated youth, young people aging out of foster care, youth with disabilities, homeless youth and other disconnected youth populations between the ages of 16 to 24. The project places a priority on serving females with or without children, as well as veterans and their spouses. As a result, two single-family homes will be built utilizing green technologies, then sold to income-eligible individuals or families with down payment assistance available through partnership with the City of Columbia.
“YouthBuild is an extraordinary program, which allows us to offer a valid and proven solution for our community’s youth who are at-risk. We are very excited about this newest project expansion which offers not only carpentry training for students, but a second option of highway maintenance and repair.” stated Steven A. Smith, Job Point President.
Major collaborators with Job Point in this project include: Central Missouri Workforce Development Board, Misty Werkmeister LLC, The OSHEA Group LLC, City of Columbia, Emery Sapp & Sons, Chester Bross, Missouri Department of Transportation, Carpenters’ Joint Apprenticeship Program, Columbia Chamber of Commerce, REDI, Moberly Area Community College, State Technical School of Missouri, Providence Bank, Family Counseling Center, Phoenix Programs and Columbia Missouri Community Housing Development Organization, a nonprofit subsidiary of Job Point. Altogether partners are leveraging an additional $551,861 over the three year grant period in our quest to build emotionally healthy, well-educated, responsible and confident youth.
Job Point is Missouri’s premier employment center and Community Development Corporation. Since 1965, we have been linking people and jobs by providing career planning and job placement assistance. We specialize in preparing individuals to enter the workforce, while meeting a critical need of the business community. The organization is headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, with locations in Marshall, Moberly and Sedalia. For information about programs, services and locations please call 573/474-8560. Employers interested in hiring graduates may post job openings at: www.jobpointmo.org/postjob.htm.
