Randolph Housing Authority To Receive $1.1 Grant | Elkins Inter-Mountain

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Randolph County Housing Authority will receive a $1,095,117 grant to help at-risk youth finish high school or other equivalency programs through YouthBuild North Central.

The U.S. Department of Labor grant was announced Tuesday by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“We are thrilled to be awarded this YouthBuild grant, which will enable us to work with another 70-80 young people to build their leadership abilities and job skills, and at the same time, build affordable housing,” said Karen Jacobson, executive director, Randolph County Housing Authority.

“The award would not be possible without the commitment of many, many community partners here, who care about the next generation and want to contribute to their success,” Jacobson said.

The grant funds will also be used to help build housing for homeless youth and their families.

“For our children, education is the key to a bright future and these programs will ensure that even West Virginia’s students whose parents struggle with addiction or have other difficult circumstances at home are prepared for their future,” Manchin said.

“I’m excited to see this funding head to Morgantown and Elkins. I will continue to fight for resources for similar programs across West Virginia,” Manchin said.

Also announced Tuesday was a $1,083,771 grant to the Human Resource Development Foundation, Inc. in Morgantown.

The YouthBuild North Central class of 2019 will graduate at 11 a.m. Feb. 14 at the Phil Gainer Community Center in Elkins.

YouthBuild participants earn money while they get valuable hands-on experience building quality houses. This work is reinforced with classroom instruction, job shadowing and personal guidance. GED preparation and testing is another key component of the program. Out-of-school youth ages 16 to 24 are eligible to apply. The program lasts between six to 10 months.

The students are also provided with Entrepreneurship Education through a mixture of classroom and on-the-job settings. The goal of YouthBuild’s Entrepreneurship Program is to provide a new set of skills to participants — skills they could use to start a new business themselves or to bring “entrepreneurship” to a job in small business, the most likely source of their future employment.

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