Fostoria YouthBuild to provide more than just a HS diploma to disenfranchised youth

When people ask John Page, Career Coach at Fostoria YouthBuild, who he hopes to recruit for the YouthBuild program, he tells them he goes after the "tough kids." "My kids are the ones you walk to the other side of the street to avoid, when you see them coming your way," Page said. "Those are the kids we want to work with." Page said the program, which operates through the Great Lakes Community Action Partnership and is located at the Fostoria Learning Center, 342 E. Perry St., is seeking young adults age 18-24 who need a second chance, who have dropped out or been kicked out of school, who have struggled to find and secure the resources they need to jumpstart their careers and lives. For young people who meet these criteria, the Fostoria YouthBuild program offers an opportunity to attend classes each day to earn a GED or high school diploma, a chance to learn construction skills and even work on a house rehabilitation in Fostoria and get paid while doing all of these things. "Every person out there who's been successful has received a helping hand from someone in their lives," Page said. "And shame on us if we don't do that for the kids that need a program like this." Fostoria YouthBuild is completely free to students, Page said, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. But it's better than that — students earn $25 a day just for attending GED classes in the mornings, and are paid $10.50/hour while rehabilitating a house with construction advisors in the afternoons. "I know people can make more money elsewhere, but with us you're also working on getting your GED and you're receiving job training skills and other services at no cost to you," Page said, "so why not Fostoria YouthBuild?" Page, who has worked with Lucas County YouthBuild and was hired in 2013 by GLCAP as the YouthBuild specialist for the Fostoria program, said he didn't know the full strengths of the program until he was fully immersed in it. "Once I got involved in it, it became a life-changing experience for me, as it is for the kids who go through the program," he said. Page referred to YouthBuild as a "job empowerment program," meant to provide more to students than just a GED and a wage to live off of while they earn it. "We offer a lot of 'soft skills' in YouthBuild, too, that these kids might need," he said. "Some of our students are on food stamps, some of them have childcare costs, some of them need help paying rent, some of them don't have health insurance. We help students in any way we can, with supportive services." YouthBuild has partnered with Seneca County Department of Job and Family Services to connect students with support services, and also has partnered with other services in Seneca County to provide counseling and career advising, to help students prepare a resume and prepare for college and help students attain proper certifications for trade jobs. Lunch is even provided for the students each day. Though the benefits provided by YouthBuild are many, Page said there is only one major requirement asked of students — to show up. "Our motto is for people to be here on time," he said. "If you can show me you can show up one day, and then you can show up the next day, and the next day, and then a week and a month, we can get you ready to get a job." When students show up in the morning each day at YouthBuild, they will have a meeting and then spend the first four hours of the day in a classroom preparing to get their GED or high school diploma, with YouthBuild partners ASPIRE. "The most important thing is education," Page said. "Our students will attend class in small classroom environments with plenty of one-on-one opportunities." After class and lunch, students then attend a construction training course with advisors from Associated Builders and Contractors and then head out to a house in Fostoria to work with construction supervisors on renovating the home. The program currently has two houses that the students will rehabilitate, and the first house they will work on is located on South Main Street in Fostoria. Once the houses rehabbed through the program are completely renovated, they will be given back to the Land Bank. "The grant that funds YouthBuild makes it so that the houses must go to low-income residents once they're ready," he said. Page said he'd love to see one of the program's students end up in one of the rehabilitated houses. "That would be pretty much the greatest story on the planet, if they could live in a home they helped renovate themselves." The program operates on a "cohort system," meaning they have about 20 students together in each cohort going through 6 ½ months of programming together. After 6 ½ months, students then will be enrolled in follow-up services with the program. "Though the program is currently poised to served young people who live in the the 44830 zip code," Page said, "the grant allows some participants from greater Seneca County or Tiffin as well," so applications are welcome from anywhere in Seneca County. The first Fostoria YouthBuild cohort will begin March 2, but Page said they will offer rolling admission for the first group, meaning that applications will still be taken and accepted after the March 2 start date. "If you can get us an application in Friday, we can have you ready to start on Monday," he said. For more information on Fostoria YouthBuild, visit www.glcap.org/youthbuild, or call John Page at (419) 324-5909 or Angela Long at (419) 701-9873.