United Way of Long Island Begins Historic YouthBuild Home Building Project

 

United Way of Long Island, in collaboration with Paul Davis Restoration and Remodeling of Long Island, has broken ground on the first YouthBuild Home Building Project on Long Island. Located in Brentwood, the YouthBuild project will be the first new home that the Town of Islip has approved as a high-technology, high-performance ENERGY STAR® home.

The home will incorporate state-of-the-art energy and environmentally-friendly features and will be the model of an affordable housing project for working, moderate-income families on Long Island. The site for this first-of-its-kind project on Long Island was provided by the Town of Islip’s Community Development Agency (CDA). The home will be available to an eligible, first-time homebuyer through Islip’s CDA Affordable Housing Program.
The YouthBuild project is being constructed as part of an accredited educational initiative and collaborative partnership between United Way of Long Island and several community-based agencies, businesses and labor unions, including Green Depot, Amvick, Solar Radiant Technologies, Home Performance Technologies, Deer Park Sand & Gravel, Royal Star Associates, Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters and the Empire State Carpenters Apprenticeship Program.

YouthBuild students will work with the building trades in all phases of the home’s construction. YouthBuild Long Island, a youth and community development initiative launched by United Way of Long Island, is part of a national program that provides unemployed young adults, ages 18 to 24, with the opportunity to transform their lives and roles in society. The program enables participants to complete their high school education, receive onsite construction training through an accredited pre-apprenticeship program, receive career and social counseling, and develop employment and valuable leadership skills. Upon completion of the program, graduates are offered a career opportunity in construction or a related field or to continue their education. Four of United Way’s YouthBuild Long Island students have already been offered apprenticeship opportunities with local labor unions.

For details about this project, contact Rick Wertheim at 631-940-3722 orrwertheim@unitedwayli.org or Clay Burt at Paul Davis Restoration and Remodeling at 631-434-1717 or email cburt@pdr-usa.net. For more information about the Town of Islip’s Affordable Housing Program and Lottery, contact Robert M. Kuri, 631-665-1185 x 27 or rkuri@islipcda.org. Information can also be found at www.unitedwayli.org under Change Lives Where You Live/Supporting Children and Youth.