YouthBuild receives $75,000 from Wal-Mart

At 318 Concord Ave., a home under construction by Comprehensive Community Solutions on July 1, YouthBuild Rockford Trainee Kristina Johnson holds the check for a $75,000 grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation. Pictured from left to right: (front row) Terra Pouncy, Brandon Bunch, Nakia Sanders, Keesha McCoy, Kristina Johnson, Tami Lopez, Dominique Patterson, presented by Toby Myers, Wal-Mart’s market electronic merchandiser, Michaela Woods, Wal-Mart’s market asset protection manager and Jerry Schwartz, general manager of East State Street Wal-Mart: (back row) Johnathan Allen, Chantinia Davis, Rondell Tilson, Elise Matthews, Jason Lopez, Demetrius Hillard, Sebastian Greene, and Shawn Farr. The grant will enable YouthBuild Rockford to expand the number of trainees attaining their GED or earning their high school diploma, developing job skills, and building four units of affordable housing with “Green” features for low-income families in the Rockford area. Home Depot Team Building Community also donated $3,000.

Rock River Times

$75,000 Grant from Wal-Mart Foundation Gives Out-of-School Youth in Rockford
The Opportunity to Rebuild Their Lives and Their Communities

Grant Helps Low Income Youth Earn High School Diplomas or GEDs,
Develop Job Skills and Serve Their Communities

Rockford, Ill. (July 1, 2008) – On July 1, YouthBuild Rockford received $75,000 from the Wal-Mart Foundation. This grant will help increase the number of students who are able to earn their GED or high school diploma, develop job skills, and build four units of affordable housing for low-income families in their communities. Representatives from Wal-Mart and YouthBuild Rockford students and representatives were on hand to announce the grant at the YouthBuild construction site located at 318 Concord Ave.

The recent grant of $75,000 to YouthBuild Rockford is part of a larger grant of $5 million from the Wal-Mart Foundation. The Wal-Mart grant of $5 million will enable 59 local YouthBuild affiliates to enroll a total of 2,000 out-of-school youth in YouthBuild alternative schools across the nation. In addition to expanding the capacity of existing YouthBuild programs, the Wal-Mart grant will help create new YouthBuild programs, increase YouthBuild programs’ ability to implement green building techniques, expand access to careers in green industries, assist YouthBuild graduates to build assets, and attract more young women to YouthBuild through healthcare training initiatives. In addition to YouthBuild Rockford, the Wal-Mart Foundation grant will support programs across the country including Philadelphia, Portland, New Orleans, Austin and St. Louis.

In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas. In addition to their work in the classroom, YouthBuild students learn job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income families and participate in leadership development activities in their communities. Since 1994, 76,000 YouthBuild students have completed more than 17,000 units of housing in 226 of America’s most under-served communities.

“The Wal-Mart Foundation is committed to providing opportunities so people can live better,” said Dan Ketchum Wal-Mart Market Manager for the Rockford area. “Through this grant, we are supporting young people in their efforts to improve their own lives as well as improve the living conditions of low-income families here in Rockford and across the country.”

“It is a wonderful feeling to be able to provide hope and encouragement to those who need it most,” said Kerry Knodle, YouthBuild Rockford Executive Director. “Thanks to Wal-Mart’s generosity, we are going to be able to do much more to improve the lives of many more children.”

YouthBuild Rockford is currently building three new homes in the Washington Park area of Rockford, which has been the site of major redevelopment activity over the past three years, including a HOPE VI project. Over the next two years, YouthBuild will build four units. Also, CCS, Inc. will be acquiring, rehabbing and reselling 52 single family homes, in addition to the ongoing new, green construction done by YouthBuild students. These efforts are part of a major neighborhood redevelopment plan involving a number of public and private partners.

“YouthBuild Rockford is one of the most amazing programs throughout the United States,” said student, Christina Jackson. “The organization really believes in change and showing youth how to build positive character and how to live like a young leader.”

YouthBuild programs are funded through a combination of federal, state, local and private foundation and corporate funds. The primary federal funding comes from the YouthBuild program authorized under the U.S. Department of Labor. Private investment, including the $5 million Wal-Mart grant, augments the government funding and is a key part of the overall public-private partnership supporting YouthBuild programs.

About Philanthropy at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and its foundation are proud to support the charitable causes that are important to customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. Through its philanthropic programs and partnerships, the company supports initiatives focused on enhancing opportunities in education, job skills training, sustainability, and health. In 2007, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and the Wal-Mart Foundation gave $296 million to communities across the United States. To learn more, visit www.walmartstores.com/community.

About Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT)
Every week, millions of customers visit Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club locations across America. The company and its Foundation are committed to a philosophy of giving back locally. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is proud to support the causes that are important to customers and associates right in their own neighborhoods, and last year gave more than $296 million to local United States communities. To learn more, visit http://www.walmartfacts.com, http://www.walmart.com, or http://www.walmartfoundation.org.

About YouthBuild Rockford:
YouthBuild Rockford is a highly regarded program of Comprehensive Community Solutions, Inc. (CCS) that provides low-income young people who have dropped out of high school in the Rockford area with vital opportunities to become productive, self-supporting adults. YouthBuild serves out of school youth with academic education, vocational skills training, personal counseling, positive peer support, leadership development, job placement and follow-up support. In addition, participants build or rehabilitate housing for low-income families, and have produced 35 units of housing in Rockford since the program began.

About YouthBuild:
YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses core issues facing low-income communities: education, employment, housing, crime prevention, and leadership development. In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work full-time for 6 to 24 months toward their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income people and participating in leadership development activities in their communities. There are 226 local, autonomous YouthBuild programs in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, engaging approximately 8,000 young adults each year.