Against all odds, I wanted to go to college. When I was in high school, my stepfather went to prison, leaving my Mom, my little sister and me to fend for ourselves. I got a job to help buy food and school clothes, and I looked after my sister. I knew I had to keep up my schoolwork. But the stress was too much for me. I started taking risks.
Amazingly, I made it to college, but I had a low tolerance for stress. A few semesters later, I dropped out. I eventually wound up at YouthBuild. At the time, I felt like a failure. But at YouthBuild, I learned to build houses and earned educational awards so I could go back to school one day. I learned to deal with problems so that I'm not so overwhelmed.
The teachers and staff don't tolerate any risky behavior. I attended peer counseling sessions to stay in the program and I was able to start anew.
Today, I'm a YouthBuild leader, and I'm well on my way toward going back to school.
Every year, thousands of young adults like me earn their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills and earning money for building affordable housing for homeless or poor families in YouthBuild programs around the country.
It feels good to make money and help rebuild a community. It feels even better to rebuild your life.
Many of my classmates go on to college or technical school.
But many young people who need help aren't able to get it because there's not enough funding.
John David, director of the Southern Appalachian Labor School in Fayette County, which houses our YouthBuild program, tells me that every day.
It's like that nationwide. Last year, more than 14,000 young people couldn't get into YouthBuild programs because there was funding for 8,000.
President Barack Obama understands that not only do YouthBuild programs provide second chances to young people who need them most, but they also improve America's most distressed communities. He has said he wants to expand YouthBuild to help 50,000 youth a year. I'm glad we have his vote of confidence.
Against all odds, I wanted to go to college. When I was in high school, my stepfather went to prison, leaving my Mom, my little sister and me to fend for ourselves. I got a job to help buy food and school clothes, and I looked after my sister. I knew I had to keep up my schoolwork. But the stress was too much for me. I started taking risks.
Amazingly, I made it to college, but I had a low tolerance for stress. A few semesters later, I dropped out. I eventually wound up at YouthBuild. At the time, I felt like a failure. But at YouthBuild, I learned to build houses and earned educational awards so I could go back to school one day. I learned to deal with problems so that I'm not so overwhelmed.
The teachers and staff don't tolerate any risky behavior. I attended peer counseling sessions to stay in the program and I was able to start anew.
Today, I'm a YouthBuild leader, and I'm well on my way toward going back to school.
Every year, thousands of young adults like me earn their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills and earning money for building affordable housing for homeless or poor families in YouthBuild programs around the country.
It feels good to make money and help rebuild a community. It feels even better to rebuild your life.
Many of my classmates go on to college or technical school.
But many young people who need help aren't able to get it because there's not enough funding.
John David, director of the Southern Appalachian Labor School in Fayette County, which houses our YouthBuild program, tells me that every day.
It's like that nationwide. Last year, more than 14,000 young people couldn't get into YouthBuild programs because there was funding for 8,000.
President Barack Obama understands that not only do YouthBuild programs provide second chances to young people who need them most, but they also improve America's most distressed communities. He has said he wants to expand YouthBuild to help 50,000 youth a year. I'm glad we have his vote of confidence.
I'm also thankful to Rep. Nick J. Rahall, who has inspired me and my YouthBuild classmates by coming to our events and encouraging us to aim higher. I am glad that Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has been a champion for the program, and the support of Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller has helped keep our program afloat, even while the worsening economy has pummeled coalfield communities.
Yet YouthBuild still needs help. We need to support YouthBuild with millions of dollars to train 30,000 young people like me, who could build at least 2,000 units of affordable housing across the country. They could find jobs and homes of their own. I know it can happen, because I did it. I'm 23 years old and I now have my own place. I plan to enroll at WVU Tech next spring.
After graduation, I want to become a teacher.
My YouthBuild teachers have shown me what it means to invest in a young person, especially one whose dreams seemed weighed down by circumstances, long odds and life in general.
More money for YouthBuild would invest in thousands of young people and neighborhoods in need, helping the ailing economy.
It may sound like long odds, but I'm living proof that it can be done.
Young, of Montgomery, is an AmeriCorps VISTA member and is currently working with YouthBuild USA Young Leaders Council.
Post a comment
Although Americorps and YouthBuild are excellent nonprofit programs, there is strong evidence that Shelley Capito opposes them today. A thorough search of her website reveals nothing about YouthBuild. ZIP. NADA. Revisit the author's words carefully about Capito where she "HAS BEEN" a champion for the program. The phrase "HAS BEEN" is revealing because Capito not only voted against Obama's stimulus bill, she also very publicly complained about non-profit public housing provisions in that bill.
Here's one reason why: http://www.wvoter-owned.org/news/2008/10_30.html
And here's another: http://tinyurl.com/bteeyf
OC says you've been flinging you cage droppings.
Again !
And that you're a troll.
Is all this true ?
I'm crushed, devastated. Crushed AND devastated.
Just shows me how poorly I judge a person's character on the internet.
And I thought 'I' held OC's affection and attention.You know, not necessarily a big place, but a special place.
My head is spinning.
Woe, woe, woe.
As Alisha used public funds to recover from her own poor choices, the public has every right to judge her.
Speaking of choice, Alisha freely chose to start "taking risks." The taxpayers did not, however, have a choice when it came to funding "troubled-youth" programs with money that they had earned.
If Alisha truly wants to be a better person and make the world a better place, she needs to repay the taxpayers with interest.