U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) is making it a little more fun at the YMCA.
He announced last week that he helped secure a $1 million federal grant for a program at the Flushing YMCA.
The money will fund the YMCA’s YouthBuild initiative, which provides educational training and job skills to at-risk Queens youth.
The U.S. Department of Labor grant was provided in part because of a letter Ackerman wrote in January to Labor Secretary Hilda Solis voicing his support of the program.
The program helps at-risk 16- to 24-year-olds earn their high school diplomas or GEDs and trains them for jobs in the construction industry by providing them with real work experience building and renovating homes. The homes are then sold as affordable housing to low-income and homeless people.
The $1 million injection will allow the program at the YMCA, at 138-46 Northern Blvd., to continue for 70 men and women over the next two years.
“This critical grant will play a key role in putting at-risk youth in Queens on the path to success,” Ackerman said in a statement.
— Connor Adams Sheets
