YouthBuild Global

Celebrating Workforce Development Month!

Workforce Development Month is a celebration of opportunity, growth, and career success. At Operation Fresh Start, we're proud to help young adults build the skills, credentials, and confidence they need to thrive.

Since October 2025, 49 participants have taken the next step toward their futures through employment in construction, conservation, healthcare, early childhood education, finance, and customer service careers. Many more participants are exploring other career fields or higher education.

Thank you to our participants, staff, and partners who make this life-changing work possible, including the Workforce Development Board of South Central Wisconsin, AmeriCorps, YouthBuild Global, and The Corps Network. Together, we're building stronger futures and a stronger workforce for Wisconsin. 💙

AmeriCorps members earn an education through their service. That benefit shouldn’t come with an unexpected federal tax bill.

Take a and tell Congress to help set up Americorps members for future success.

Voices for National Service has made it easy to take action. Use the Contact Congress tool to ask your members of Congress to support this bipartisan effort: https://bit.ly/NoTaxOnService26.

🌍 From North Chicago to Rio de Janeiro, from Portland, ME to Mexico City—the 2026–2027 YouthBuild Leadership Fellows cohort represents the global reach of the !

These 13 leaders from YouthBuild programs around the world are embarking on a year-long journey to strengthen their leadership and work together in support of opportunity youth.

The fellowship provides opportunities for directors to strengthen their leadership and organizational development skills, build community, and influence the future of policies and practices at all YouthBuild programs.

We're honored to support these leaders as they deepen their growth alongside one another and champion young people to build the futures they deserve! ☀️

YouthBuild Global Announces Second Global Leadership Fellows Cohort Thirteen leaders from across the YouthBuild network begin a year-long fellowship focused on collaboration and impact for opportunity youth

Yesterday, our partners at Grainger, a leading broad line distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and services, hosted its fifth annual Bucket Build.

The volunteer event brought together volunteers, ToolBank USA partners, and students from YouthBuild Lake County and YouthBuild Waukegan (Youth Conservation Corps) to assemble disaster relief kits at the company’s Lake Forest headquarters.

Thank you to the students and staff, and our incredible partners at Grainger, for working together to help families and individuals begin the process of recovery after a natural disaster.



Photo Credit: YouthBuild Lake County

Manufacturing Month is almost here!

Across the , we are committed to helping students explore the wide range of careers in modern manufacturing, from engineering and production to marketing, finance and beyond.

Got a manufacturing success story to share? Post in the month of October and tag Global for a chance to be celebrated on our page!

Every day, across the , young people are gaining hands-on experience and discovering what's possible for their futures!

💡 Did you know that this month marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the YouthBuild Transfer Act?

The U.S. Department of Labor took the baton from the U.S. Department of Labor U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and has since awarded more than 1,000 YouthBuild grants that have served more than 75,000 participants!

https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/5837/text

🎉 Heart of Oregon YouthBuild (Heart of Oregon Corps) is opening a new centralized campus in Redmond later this month—a space built to expand opportunity and strengthen community!

For two decades, Heart of Oregon Corps has run programs across Central Oregon, partnering with young people to reclaim their education, gain hands-on work experience, and build pathways to the future. Now, with a new campus that includes classrooms, meeting spaces, and facilities to support their YouthBuild program, they're ready to do even more.

💙 The new hub will allow young adults to work on community-based projects like building tiny homes to address affordable housing—all while earning compensation, high school credits, diplomas, or GED certification.

"We set out to build a central campus because our community's need for a stronger workforce pipeline outpaced our capacity," shared Executive Director Laura Handy.

Congratulations to Heart of Oregon Corps on this incredible milestone! We're inspired by your commitment to young people and the futures they're building.

Redmond youth workforce campus reaches funding goal - Redmond Spokesman A youth workforce development organization that has run its programs out of multiple locations across Central Oregon for two decades has reached the funding goal for its own $7.3 million […]

🏗️ Young people are building more than structures—they're building their futures.

During an 11-month period, Georgia Building Trades Academy participants gained hands-on construction experience at the Stone Hogan development in Atlanta's Greenbriar neighborhood, a project that brought 448 affordable apartments to the community.

This is what the looks like: young leaders reclaiming their education, gaining real-world skills, and transforming communities from the ground up.

💙 When we invest in opportunity youth, everyone wins.

448 affordable homes open in Atlanta’s Greenbriar neighborhood The Flats and Villas at Stone Hogan have celebrated their opening in Greenbriar. The 448-home development includes family and senior communities; applicants should verify current availability.