Youthbuilders Host National Green Building Training

Portland YouthBuilders  (PYB) will host a multi-state gathering of YouthBuild programs for a three-day Green Affordable Home Construction workshop from April 8-10, at PYB's school, located at 4816 S.E. 92nd Ave.
The group will host colleagues from throughout the YouthBuild network to visit its current green residential construction projects and to share best practices with the common goal of training young people for jobs that will make a difference.
The course, geared for construction staff and directors, will explore the basics of green building implementation and its costs and benefits.
Instructors from American YouthWorks' Casa Verde Builders, based in Austin, Texas will provide participants with an in-depth look at the full range of green building from material- and energy- efficiency, to sustainable landscaping and indoor air quality.
Instructors will help participants identify features and techniques that are easy and cost-effective to implement, and give technical advice on how to get started integrating what is learned in this course into actual construction practices for building green homes that are affordable to low income buyers.
On Thursday, April 9th, between 10:30 and noon, participants will tour PYB's current affordable housing projects, at 4849 S.E. 86th and 10404 S.E. Yukon, both located in the Lents Neighborhood of outer southeast Portland. 
Founded in 1995, Portland YouthBuilders (PYB) is a non-profit organization offering education, vocational and leadership development programs, and graduate support for 200 low income young people aged 17 – 24 who have dropped out of school.
Students earn high school or general equivalency diplomas while acquiring the skills, values, and experience necessary to lead self-sufficient and productive lives. The program offers construction training and computer technology vocational training.  The construction training program is an approved pre-apprenticeship program through the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. 
Major financial support for Portland YouthBuilders' programs comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the City of Portland's Bureau of Housing and Community Development, YouthBuild USA, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Corporation for National Service/AmeriCorps, Portland Public Schools, Worksystems Inc, Wal-Mart Foundation, and individuals, area businesses and foundations.
Portland YouthBuilders is an affiliated member of YouthBuild USA, which since 1990 has guided the development of the national YouthBuild network of more than 200 local programs.  YouthBuild programs simultaneously address core issues facing low-income communities: housing, education, employment, crime prevention, and leadership development.
In YouthBuild programs nationwide, low-income young people work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas, learn job skills and serve their communities by building affordable housing, and transform their own lives and roles in society.