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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) today announced that Washtenaw Community College (WCC) will receive a new $899,737 grant from the Department of Labor YouthBuild program to support academic and occupational skills training for at-risk youth. The grant, which Dingell supported in a letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, will serve the City of Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Charter Township.

“Every young person in this country deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential,” said Dingell. “This important investment will provide education and skills training to help our workers succeed in a knowledge-based economy, and go a long way towards ensuring every individual, no matter where they start out in life, has the opportunity to get ahead.”

The grant will enable WCC to build on their 20 years of success providing construction skills training in partnership with local industry, employers and municipalities. The college will provide wrap-around student support services to help at-risk youth succeed; establish a pre-apprenticeship program to provide participants with advanced standing in the Ironworkers apprenticeship training program; and provide leadership development training for participants and staff.

YouthBuild is a community-based alternative education program that provides classroom instruction and occupational skills training in construction and other in-demand occupations to 16-24 year-olds who have been in the juvenile justice system, are aging out of foster care, have dropped out of high school, or are otherwise at-risk of failing to reach key educational and career milestones.