NEWPORT NEWS-The next cohort of the Newport News YouthBuild begins Monday, January 31. The organization is currently accepting applications for the program.
Newport News YouthBuild helps young people aged 16-24 gain work-based education that leads to industry-recognized credentials, employment placing, apprenticeships, or post-secondary education programs.
“We teach them a trade, certify them in the trade, OSHA-10, and CPR, and, best of all, we help them get their GED,” said Makhiohn Walden, program specialist. “While they do all of these amazing things, we pay them about $150 a week as long as they do as we ask, which is work hard to change their life for the better.”
Trades include carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. It takes roughly six months to complete training.
In June 2021, Newport News YouthBuild participants assisted with the creation of a beauty salon for homeless women at Four Oaks Day Service Center on Warwick Boulevard.
Newport News YouthBuild is a program of Volunteers of America Chesapeake & Carolinas and operates in part with grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration.
For more information or to apply for Newport News YouthBuild, call 757-386-5922 or visit www.voachesapeake.org/youthbuild.