For more than 20 years, YouthBuild Lake County has helped people between the ages of 17 and 24 without a high school diploma complete their education and develop work skills — usually in the construction trades — leading to a productive, comfortable life.
Along with classroom work to earn their high school diplomas, participants in YouthBuild are part of crews building affordable housing in the areas around Waukegan, North Chicago and other northeast Lake County communities.
Over the last three years, YouthBuild added two new programs to accommodate more people who need to develop skills to enter the construction trades, and other skilled positions who are older and have finished high school. More space was necessary to accommodate the participants.
YouthBuild Lake County opened its new 30,000-square-foot Career Training & Workforce Hub on Dec. 2 in North Chicago, providing classrooms and a workshop where participants learn to use hand and power tools, among other skills.
“The building gives us flexibility to do things the way we want to do them,” YouthBuild Executive Director Tameka Wilson said. “This is what we need now, and the layout for the mobility we’ll need in the future.”
A one-time bank building. Jake Lazarski, the organization’s senior manager of communications, said there is a large area adjacent to the existing structure, which was once used for drive-through banking.
“We’re going to take that out,” Lazarski said, referring to the lanes where the cars once made deposits and withdrawals. “We’re going to take it down and build a 20,000-square-foot addition. It will probably be in 2027.”
Wilson said flexibility and room to grow are crucial to YouthBuild’s mission. With many things changing rapidly, even in the construction trades, the organization needs to be prepared to move in the right direction. Its new home allows for that flexibility.
“This building gives us the footprint for the next generation,” Wilson said. “Not only is this the space we need for the community now. It’s what we need as we look toward the future. We want to prepare young people for jobs that will be created in the future. Things like solar energy.”
Now there is a workshop where participants learn how to use hand and power tools. Lazarski said each cohort of 25 to 35 participants spends time building or remodeling affordable houses. The group that starts a project is usually not the one to finish it.
Starting in 2022, Lazarski said YouthBuild added the Illinois Works pre-apprenticeship program for people 18 or older with a high school diploma. It lasts 10 to 12 weeks, where people learn basic construction skills as well as how to do a job search and land employment.
Delaney Eleam of North Chicago is part of the apprenticeship program. A native of New Orleans, she spent five years in the U.S. Navy after high school. When she became a single mother while at Naval Station Great Lakes, she decided to live in one place, raising her children.
Learning construction skills as her cohort completed its tasks, Eleam is now spending time at YouthBuild hunting for a job doing the finishing work on a construction project. She knows she can initially earn as much as $54,000 a year.
“I want to do finishing work like floor tiles, plumbing or electric work,” she said. “I have my certificates. I’ve learned construction safety. I know how to use hand and power tools.”
A third program started last year is the U.S. Department of Labor’s registered apprenticeship in facility maintenance. Lazarski said it is an 18-month program for people 18 and older with a high school diploma. Participants are paid during the apprenticeship.
Along with learning skills of construction trades, Carlos Argueta, Youthbuild’s senior director of programs, said participants learn leadership and communications skills. They learn to appreciate the teamwork of building a house. They are doing something for their community.
“They’re building homes for low-income families,” Argueta said. “These are usually first-time homeowners.”
As new needs come into the construction field, Argueta said YouthBuild makes an effort to help enter those fields, like the installation of solar panels. A recent graduate of the program is now earning more than $100,000 annually.
Wilson said looking toward the future, YouthBuild may need to teach entrepreneurial skills. While some people will get a well-paying union job in one of the construction trades, one of them may decide to start their own construction company.
“Those entrepreneurial skills will take them to the next level,” Wilson said. “We need to teach them to have partnerships with the business community. We want them to know how to obtain economic stability.”