Jasmine Bibbs of Benton Harbor was a high school dropout headed for a decidedly uncertain future until she landed at the Bridge Academy and was pointed in the direction of the YouthBuild program operated by the Kinexus Group. Last summer she participated in a major project to completely renovate a substandard home to get it back onto the market and help stabilize a neighborhood. She was such a fast study and so committed to the success of the program that Kinexus actually hired her and this year she is Assistant Manager of Construction for the 2019 project which was kicked off today in the 700 block of Buss Street in Benton Harbor.
Bibbs was surrounded this afternoon by her team of 11 students in the current cohort class that will completely remodel a modest single family home just a short distance away from the original Jimmy Carter Work Project neighborhood and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor’s Fettig Center.
She watched as student Kori Broyles told me about plans for the rear of the home, saying, “We’re going to take all of the windows out and replace them and then paint the entire back of the home.” This is Kori’s first year on a YouthBuild project.
Bibbs says, “We’re going to remodel the house, for a low income buyer. We’ll remodel the entire interior, take the walls down to the studs, start over and make it look nice again, and livable.”
The ambitious project under the watchful eye of team Kinexus has a completion deadline of December. Bibbs says, dual teams will work on the project every day, noting, “While one group is in the classroom for academic training, the other is here, in the field, working on the house, and then they switch.”
The academic training will lead to GED certificates and high school diplomas for the Youth Build students, all of which are aged from 16 to 24 years old. Bibbs says she has a team of 11 on the current lineup, but adds, “Another open cohort will start in August and September, and they will join the team working on the house at that time.” How many join will be determined by the recruitment process.
When the project is complete and the homeowner takes possession, the workers will join in celebration with them.
Caleb Weeks is Director of YouthBuild. He says, “This is a great example of what you can do to rebuild a community. What we’re doing is just helping rebuild the students, but we want to raise the value of this house and the neighborhood, and hopefully inspire other people to also be a part of rebuilding the neighborhood.” Weeks suggests, “Really, what this means to the community is instilling confidence and passion into these students. When they come in here like today, they’re uncomfortable, hot and sweaty, but by the end of the project build, they see what they can do and have, in fact, done, and it has a lasting effect on them and their confidence as a person.”
YouthBuild USA is a federal program, and there are roughly 260 individual programs throughout the nation under the management of the U.S. Department of Labor. Through YouthBuild, low income, out of school youth aged 15 to 24 are given the opportunity to earn their high school diploma or GED while also learning valuable construction trade skills through the rebuilding of houses, playgrounds, and community centers. The local program is run by Michigan Works! Kinexus Group.
Director Weeks says, “Throughout the entire cohort, they are learning skilled trades. When they come in, many don’t even know how to read a tape measure, but by the end of it, and through the process, they help hang dry wall, they help frame the homes and a lot more.”
Today marked the kickoff or “groundbreaking” for the 2019 project, and Weeks says, “Our first project is going to be the roof, so they’ll be up there ripping off shingles and nailing back on new ones, so they learn all of those skills throughout the process of the project.” He adds, “Locally, YouthBuild is in it’s 11th year now,” yet, he notes, “This cohort is new in many ways, because we have a brand new shop that we’re in which has completely reshaped how we do the program, so this particular group is almost like a fresh start for everyone in a lot of ways.”
The students goal of learning while crafting a safe, affordable home helps lead to meaningful, fulfilling employment, armed with an education they might not otherwise have ever received.
