The YouthBuild AmeriCorps Partnership

AmeriCorps is a national service program that engages more than 75,000 Americans each year in service opportunities that address unmet critical needs in education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, veterans and military families, economic opportunity, disaster services, and other unmet community needs.

Since 1994, YouthBuild USA has served as a national intermediary for YouthBuild AmeriCorps funds and education awards, bringing additional resources to a subset of local YouthBuild USA Affiliate programs to expand their capacity and service within their community.

YouthBuild AmeriCorps Programs

Annually, over 2,500 opportunity youth across 65 YouthBuild programs serve more than one million hours of service as YouthBuild AmeriCorps members in their communities by building affordable homes and other community assets. For the completion of their service term requirements, YouthBuild AmeriCorps members earn a Segal Education Award that can be used to pay for education expenses at post-secondary institutions and technical schools or re-pay qualified school loans.

How It Works

YouthBuild Affiliate programs who are part of the YouthBuild AmeriCorps Partnership receive a grant consisting of AmeriCorps slot positions for YouthBuild participants and funding to support operational items such as staff salaries, equipment, supplies, required member and staff criminal history background checks, CPR/first aid training, and other associated program and member expenses. YouthBuild AmeriCorps programs are responsible for providing funds (Private, State and Local Public) and other resources to match the federal funds they receive through the AmeriCorps grant.

Our Success

Since 1994, over 40,000 YouthBuild AmeriCorps members have logged a cumulative total of over 20 million community service leadership hours while:

Rebuilding or rehabilitating over 12,000 units of affordable housing
Refurbishing over 10,000 computers for low-income families and nonprofits
Earning over $35 million in Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards to help pay for college expenses.

In 2021, AmeriCorps published a return on investment (ROI) study to measure the benefits of the YouthBuild AmeriCorps program against costs. The ROI analysis report found the following:

72.5 percent of YouthBuild AmeriCorps participants who completed the YouthBuild AmeriCorps program were placed in a job post-service.
Of YouthBuild AmeriCorps participants who did not have a high school diploma or equivalency pre-service and who completed the YouthBuild AmeriCorps program, 67.8 percent obtained one post-service.
12.8 percent of YouthBuild AmeriCorps participants who completed the YouthBuild AmeriCorps program enrolled in post-secondary education post-service.
59.9 percent of YouthBuild AmeriCorps program participants completed the program and earned an education award post-service, which can be used to pay for additional post-secondary schooling.

The report notes that while at a YouthBuild program, “AmeriCorps members gain the experience, skills, and knowledge that result in future benefits, such as improved employment and wages, which can be sustained throughout their working years.” Additional benefits of the YouthBuild AmeriCorps program include increased tax revenue for government and reduced lifetime spending on corrections, public assistance, and social insurance. Read the full research brief here.

Contact Us

All inquiries about the YouthBuild AmeriCorps partnership including YouthBuild programs interested in learning more can email us at americorps@youthbuild.org.