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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 10, 2004

SCHUMER: OVER $1 MILLION COMING TO ERIE COUNTY TO GIVE LOW-INCOME YOUTH JOB TRAINING

Schumer: HUD's YouthBuild USA program will help Erie County provide educational and employment training to low-income youth in their area

Schumer is a member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that Erie County will receive over $1 million in federal funds to provide educational, employment, and leadership opportunities to low-income youth in the area. The funds are allocated through the Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) YouthBuild USA program.

"You don’t need to be a youth counselor to know that giving low-income youth a chance to stay educated, to get a job, and to be the leaders they already are is a great thing,” Schumer said. "These YouthBuild grants will give Erie County the funds it needs to give young people the training they need to become positive forces in the workforce and in their communities."

The Buffalo and Erie County Workforce Development Consortium, Inc. (WDC), established by the City of Buffalo and County of Erie to administer employment and training programs on their behalf will receive $400,000 from HUD. The West Seneca Youth Bureau, an organization that offers community voluntarism, mentoring programs and assistance to at-risk youth will receive $696,761 from HUD.

The primary purpose of YouthBuild USA is to make sure that youth get access to quality job training, education, employment, and community service, so they can work to rebuilding their communities and their lives. In YouthBuild programs, unemployed and undereducated young people work at getting their GEDs or their high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing for homeless and lo-income people. YouthBuild places a strong emphasis on developing leadership skills and community service.

The YouthBuild USA program also distributed a $400,000 grant to the Jubilee Homes of Syracuse.

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