The Trenton Times published the following article on June 30, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Editorial: Federal $1M grant to Isles YouthBuild in Mercer County helps pave pathway to employment

By Times of Trenton Editorial Board 
on June 30, 2013 at 6:03 AM, updated June 30, 2013 at 6:10 AM

For more than 30 years, Isles Inc. has worked to bring out the best in Trenton. With initiatives ranging from community gardens to weatherizing homes to financial literacy, the organization has had attained remarkable results, suffered a few setbacks, and continued to do its best for the city’s residents.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor enhanced Isles’ ability to bring positive change to Trenton with a $1 million grant with the dual purpose of education and vocation. The award will make it possible for another 70 or so young men and women complete school as they learn building skills.

“The program is an extremely effective re-entry tool. The Isles YouthBuild Institute agenda will allow students to obtain hands-on opportunities by participating in neighborhood construction projects,” U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Robbinsville) said in announcing the grant.

YouthBuild has been in Mercer County since 1996. The program works with children who have aged out of foster care, children who have been involved in criminal activity and high school dropouts, as Times staffer Alyssa Mease reported last week.

More than 700 students have graduated from the Isles program, one of nearly 300 throughout the country engaging 10,000 participants altogether. Since 1994, more than 110,000 YouthBuild students have produced over 21,000 units of affordable, increasingly green housing in rural and urban communities across the United States.

In Trenton, where almost half of the city’s young adults don’t have a high school diploma, the need for a pathway to employment is dire. It can seem like a dead end, a place of no escape. Yet, amid the grinding poverty there is desperation but also desire for a better life.

Those associated with Isles have recognized those seeds of hope, nurtured them and helped them blossom in myriad ways. Every step away from the dispiriting status quo is a step toward a better city.

The $1 million federal grant is aimed at helping the young people whose lives hang in the balance to take those steps. The YouthBuild Institute offers them a way to attain not only a diploma and solid, marketable skills, but a sense of self-worth and empowerment.
They can be contagious commodities as each graduate engages in the city, encouraging others, strengthening the economy and the social fabric.

In Trenton, especially, community building is more vital than ever as the city’s lackluster administration continues to dim. Unlike some at City Hall, Isles and its YouthBuild Institute are more interested in the future of Trenton and the city’s residents than the next election.