Job Training Program Allows High School Dropouts to Rebuild Tattered Lives

John Paul Lopez, 18, drilled plywood boards to add to a maze of ceiling frames. Isabelle Izquierdo, 17, pounded nails to the roof. Gevon Hubbard, 18, sawed floorboards and lined them with insulation.

From the ground up, the teenagers started building two single-family houses at 53rd Steet and Vermont Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles two months ago.

But construction of the homes is not their only goal. They also are rebuilding their lives under a national program called YouthBuild.

YouthBuild is a yearlong job training, education and leadership development program that targets at-risk high school dropouts ages 18 to 24.

Many of the youths have experienced gang involvement or homelessness and some of them are single parents, said Dennis Arguelles, program director.

The program is operated by Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment and Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, but targets all at-risk youths in Los Angeles.

It is funded by $928,000 in grants from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Corp. for National Service.

The 25 participants learn construction skills such as framing, carpentry and roofing. They also receive classroom education that includes job training and conflict-resolution skills to prepare them for the high school equivalency examination at the end of the cycle.

“I have a better outlook on life now,” said Lopez, a former gang member from Central Los Angeles. “When I was gangbanging, I just cared about my place and being No. 1. I’m helping the community out now. That’s pretty cool with me. It’s better then being on the streets.”

Lopez said he plans to study at Los Angeles Trade Technical College or Santa Monica College after he completes the program.

The students are split into two groups that alternate weeks of classroom education and work at the construction site.

The youths receive a monthly stipend of about $400. They are rewarded a $25 bonus for a month of perfect attendance and are docked money for missing class. Students who graduate from the program receive a $2,300 scholarship to use toward their college education.

“We try and provide innovative methods to get them motivated toward school and career goals,” Arguelles said. “Construction is an effective tool that prepares them for life. It teaches them discipline. They see the results of their work, which does wonders for their self-esteem.”

“I want to do something better with my life,” said Izquierdo, who dropped out of Huntington Park High School in the 10th grade. She said the program has taught her skills that will help prepare her for college.

“I want to study law. I don’t know what college yet, but I know I’m going to be in school [after the program]. I’m more responsible now. YouthBuild shows me how to care for myself and other people.”

Since the program’s inception in March, the group has helped complete four two-story houses on Dickerson Avenue in the Eastside and a community garden in South-Central Los Angeles.

They work with Habitat for Humanity, a Christian housing organization that provides building materials and handles land acquisition and property ownership.