News And Stories
Tree Trust Launches Youth Build
What do you get when you combine an innovative internship program designed to help young people succeed, an organization dedicated to creating affordable housing and a non-profit with a mission of transforming lives and landscapes? YouthBuild!
YouthBuild is a program funded through HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) that helps low-income high-school youth finish their education and learn the basics of the construction trade by building housing for low-income people.
Tree Trust is partnering with the Minnesota Internship Center Charter School and Urban Homeworks to operate the program. Over the course of 30 months, Tree Trust will train 20 low-income young people in construction skills and the life skills they need to take responsibility for their future success.
This October, thirteen students from the Minnesota Internship Center participated in orientation. During three work weekends, including a retreat at Camp Courage in Maple Lake, the youth got a taste of landscaping and construction by shingling a shed, building a boardwalk and mowing lawns for seniors. The youth also participated in week-long leadership training focused on helping them identify personal strengths, challenges and goals for their future.
At the end of orientation, nine joined YouthBuild. This group is continuing their education at the Minnesota Internship Center and spending two-hours a day in leadership training with Tree Trust. This training consists of a mix of classroom and applied activities (including designing and painting a mural!) to prepare participants for personal success and the construction phase of the program. In May 2007, the group will start full-time, paid on-the-job training with Urban Homeworks, constructing homes for low-income families. They are all looking forward to putting what they are learning into practice.
In March, another 16 youth will go through orientation and 11 will be selected for the second "class" of the program.
Tree Trust
2350 Wycliff Street Suite 200
Saint Paul, MN 55114
Phone: 651-644-5800
Fax: 651-644-1469
