MUNCIE, Ind.--- If you’ve happened to drive by construction of houses around downtown Muncie, you may have seen students working for YouthBuild, a specialty project of Eastern Indiana Works. The project aims to give young adults a second chance to obtain education and work experience to enter the workforce.
“We focus on education for part of their time. They’re focused on getting their high school diploma or equivalence,” Director of Strategic Initiative Becca Jennings said. “They’re also working on getting their NCCER certification which is basically a basic construction certification.”
Jeremy Price, a recruit at YouthBuild, was turned on to the project after his grandfather showed him an ad for it on Facebook.
“The program’s very nice. It’s worth doing, and it’ll definitely change your life and impact it,” Price said.
The organization is partnered with EcoRehab for its construction work. In addition to education, the construction is based around rehabilitating houses for low-income families.
Ultimately, Jennings and Price both believe that the project will have a lasting impact on not just the families being helped, but the kids who developed under the project.
“I most likely will be doing more projects like this later on in the future,” Price said. “Right now they’re just helping us figure out what we’d like to get into, or what we’d like to do later on down the road.”
“That’s what the program is all about, making sure that they can move on to what they choose and be successful,” Jennings said.
Projects are continuing construction as long as weather permits. To learn more about the program, you can visit their website at https://www.easternindianaworks.org/myb.
Contact Elias Elsner with comments at elias.elsner@bsu.edu
