Washington - Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today announced that the U.S. Department of Labor will award four YouthBuild organizations in New Jersey with more than $2.1 million in federal funds to provide job and educational training for at-risk youth.
"Education and job training provides at-risk youth with better opportunities for successful futures," said Lautenberg. "The skills, training and education gained by these programs will not only help our youth, but also our communities."
"Our youth deserve our undivided attention and our investment," said Menendez. "Providing these education and job training grants are an important step to ensure that our at-risk youth are engaged in constructive activities and to ultimately ensure that they will provide for their families, their communities and the development of our state."
The grants will help the four YouthBuild groups to implement programs that allow its members to receive education and job training while also constructing or repairing housing for low-income families in their own neighborhoods. Participants will split their time over a two-year period between the construction site and the classroom, where they will earn their GED or high school diploma and prepare for college and other training opportunities.
In total, the four organizations will receive $2,198,554 in federal funding to run these programs. The organizations to be awarded these grants are:
YouthBuild Newark, Inc. ($549,680);
The Isles YouthBuild Institute in Trenton ($550,000);
Housing Authority of the City of Camden for Camden YouthBuild ($550,000); and
Jewish Renaissance Foundation in Perth Amboy for Middlesex County YouthBuild Consortium ($486,122).
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