Latin American Youth Center

The Latin American Youth Center’s YouthBuild Public Charter School, received $30,000 from the Wal-Mart Foundation. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) representatives, Wal-Mart and YouthBuild representatives along with YouthBuild students were on hand at an event at LAYC's first operating building, which is the site being renovated by the students to provide transitional housing for the homeless mothers with children.

“This generous grant to support our YouthBuild will enable us to expand our capacity so that we can serve 100 low-income youth, which is nearly double the number we are able to serve now. Every year we have more than five times the number of applicants than we can serve here at YouthBuild, so expanding our capacity to serve young people is meeting a vital need in our community,” said Patricia Bravo, YouthBuild Public Charter School Executive Director.

In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas. In addition to their work in the classroom, YouthBuild students learn job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income families and participate in leadership development activities in their communities. Since 1994, 76,000 YouthBuild students have completed more than 17,000 units of housing in 226 of America’s most under-served communities. “YouthBuild has helped me see life differently, and working on the home for homeless mothers has been meaningful to me,” Joana Reyes.

At the check presentation event, guests toured the construction site, which is a four-unit house row home converted into a transitional living home for six homeless young women with children.

“Homeless shelters rarely accept women with children. Thus, this transitional living home built by YouthBuild students will make a dramatic difference in the lives of many families in the community,” added Lori Kaplan, LAYC's Executive Director.

The recent grant of $30,000 to LAYC’s YouthBuild is part of a larger grant of $5 million from the Wal-Mart Foundation. The Wal-Mart grant of $5 million will enable 59 local YouthBuild affiliates to enroll a total of 2,000 out-of-school youth in YouthBuild alternative schools across the nation. In addition to expanding the capacity of existing YouthBuild programs, the Wal-Mart grant will help create new YouthBuild programs, increase YouthBuild programs’ ability to implement green building techniques, expand access to careers in green industries, assist YouthBuild graduates to build assets, and attract more young women to YouthBuild through healthcare training initiatives. In addition to Washington D.C., the Wal-Mart Foundation grant will support programs across the country including Philadelphia, Portland, New Orleans, Austin and St. Louis.

“The Wal-Mart Foundation is committed to providing opportunities so people can live better.” said Ray Bracy, Senior Vice President of U.S. Public Affairs and Government Relations for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “Through this grant, we are supporting young people in their efforts to improve their own lives as well as improve the living conditions of low-income families here in Washington, D.C. and across the country.”

YouthBuild programs are funded through a combination of federal, state, local and private foundation and corporate funds. The primary federal funding comes from the YouthBuild program authorized under the U.S. Department of Labor. Private investment, including the $5 million Wal-Mart grant, augments the government funding and is a key part of the overall public-private partnership supporting YouthBuild programs.

About Philanthropy at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and its foundation are proud to support the charitable causes that are important to customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. Through its philanthropic programs and partnerships, the company supports initiatives focused on enhancing opportunities in education, job skills training, sustainability, and health. In 2007, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and the Wal-Mart Foundation gave $296 million to communities across the United States. To learn more, visit www.walmartstores.com/community.

About Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT)
Every week, millions of customers visit Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam’s Club locations across America. The company and its Foundation are committed to a philosophy of giving back locally. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is proud to support the causes that are important to customers and associates right in their own neighborhoods, and last year gave more than $296 million to local United States communities. To learn more, visit www.walmartfacts.com, www.walmart.com, or www.walmartfoundation.org.

About YouthBuild:
YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses core issues facing low-income communities: education, employment, housing, crime prevention, and leadership development. In YouthBuild programs, low-income young people ages 16-24 work full-time for 6 to 24 months toward their GEDs or high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and low-income people and participating in leadership development activities in their communities. There are 226 local, autonomous YouthBuild programs in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, engaging approximately 8,000 young adults each year.

About YouthBuild USA: YouthBuild USA is the national intermediary and support center for a network of 226 autonomous, local YouthBuild programs. In this role, YouthBuild USA orchestrates advocacy for public funding, guidance and quality assurance in program implementation, leadership opportunities for youth and staff, research to understand best practices, and grants and loans to YouthBuild affiliates. YouthBuild USA recently received the international Skoll Award for social entrepreneurship and has been named one of America’s 12 best non-profits in the book “Forces for Good.” For more information, visit www.youthbuild.org.