Habitat Receives Youth Advocacy Award

DateJune 30, 2010 | Filed Under Featured, Habitat News Archive 

On June 8, Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven received a 2010 Youth Advocacy Award from Youth Continuum, a non-profit organization that works with at risk youth aged 15-23 who are either homeless or aging out of the child welfare system. In 2008, Habitat and Youth Continuum began a collaboration on “Skills for Life”, a pilot program funded by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Youth Continuum provides academic support, job readiness training and financial literacy education to program participants in preparation for the transition from the foster care system to the professional workplace. Habitat’s professional construction staff trains them in basic carpentry skills, tool use and vocabulary, and workplace safety as they help build a Habitat home from the ground up.

In 2009, participants in Skills for Life I spent six months working on a new construction Habitat home on Dewitt Street. The home was dedicated last November. Habitat and Youth Continuum will begin Skills for Life II in July. In 2010 ten new participants will work on several new Habitat homes on Sylvan Avenue.