American YouthWorks

In Central Texas, where 36 percent of teens drop out of high school, American YouthWorks gives at-risk youth in Austin ’s poorest neighborhoods a second chance, offering hands-on training in green construction and conservation along with academic classes for a high school diploma.

Each year, young people who might otherwise face homelessness or a return to prison or just disengagement from the system are instead building green homes, installing solar-paneled rooftops and insulation by morning while taking math, history and English classes in the afternoon.

American YouthWorks enrolls about 1,000 young people each year in its charter high school designed to inspire kids who have dropped out of conventional high schools.  Some of the students then chose to participate in the Casa Verde Builders service learning program constructing green, energy-efficient homes in Austin ’s inner city neighborhoods.    Others take part in the Environmental Corps, restoring park lands and learning conservation skills.  Still others chose the Computer Corps, rebuilding computers from recycled parts and learning computer skills.

The Casa Verde Builders students have built 105 green homes since the program’s inception more than a decade ago, teaching themselves a marketable skill while bringing the benefits of energy efficiency to their neighborhoods.

“They were built entirely from the ground-up by our young adults once considered hopeless and on their way to prison. Now they are on their way to green jobs and a green sustainable future,” said Richard Halpin, founder and chief executive officer of American YouthWorks.

He is talking about sustainable futures for students like Rye , a homeless young man who after dropping out of high school multiple times, completed his GED while in the Casa Verde Builders program and now has a construction job on a crew retrofitting one of Austin's biggest hospitals.  And a young woman named Katrina, who grew up in an abusive home, got tangled in drugs and a prison sentence and eventually was disowned by her parents. In her darkest hour, she turned to American YouthWorks for help and now has skills in environmental conservation, a high school diploma and an apprenticeship that is helping her support her baby son.

Using many recycled and energy efficient materials like galvanized recycled steel roof shingles, the Casa Verde Builders are creating houses that are 30 to 40 percent more energy efficient than the typical older Austin home.

“That they’re building a house is one of the reasons our program is so successful,” said Chester Steinhauser, a staff director of Casa Verde Builders. “If you take a young person who has not accomplished much yet in their life, for them to be able to build something and then be able to stand back and say this is what I did, that makes a great metaphor for rebuilding their own lives.”

The Casa Verde Builders program has received numerous awards including the Points of Light Foundation Presidential Service Award, Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet) Effective Initiative Award, Texas Society of Architects Citation of Honor, and US Dept. of Commerce HUD Best Practices Award.  American YouthWorks is a YouthBuild affiliate, while Casa Verde Builders is also part of the national Corps Network and is part of the AmeriCorps National Volunteer Service program, which means participants are provided health care and a living allowance.

For more information about American YouthWorks, please go to its Website at http://www.americanyouthworks.org/ or call (512) 236-6100. Specific questions can be addressed to Melinda Wheatley, chief operating officer. To watch a video about how its Casa Verde Builders program and charter schools are changing lives, go to http://www.americanyouthworks.org/video.htm