After nearly five years of preparation, the Fall River YouthBuild program is finally able to construct its first house on a vacant lot at the corner of Rodman and Buffington Streets. "The delays have been frustrating," noted program director Terry Moran, "but it was worth the wait." Over the intervening years, program youth have worked on a variety of smaller projects and have learned about green building techniques that will applied to construction of the 1,024 square foot, three-bedroom, single-family house. Approximately 94 percent of the hot water and 50 percent fo the heat for the home will be proved by solar panels. Students in the program were helpful with the bail-out and clean-up of Fall River homes damaged by recent flooding and received a citation from Mayor Flanagan. The program, run by the Old Colony YMCA, offers a ten-month construction skills training curriculum for men and women ages 17-24 who have not completed high school and has been in operation in Fall River since August of 2006. Click here for the Herald News article about the groundbreaking. Click here, here, here, and here to read more about the program. For more information, contact Director Terry Moran at 508-678-1975.
 

(Top row, left) Tyrone Neal points out some of the architectural features of the planned house as Christian Berrios, Sam Chevere, Dillon Oliveira, and City neighborhood coordinator Perry Long look on. (Top row, center and right) YouthBuild students listen as Mayor Will Flanagan reads the citation he presented to them for their assistance in responding to recent flooding. (Middle row, left and right) Students applaud Mr. Moran, who was recently named YouthBuild Director of the Year, before he points out some of the new construction methods that will be employed in building the house. (Bottom row, left) Student Phiroth Khourn reads a statement from the students as contractor Tom Martin listens. (Bottom row, center) Student Luke Berube joins Tom Martin, Advisory Committee Chairperson Debi Kenny, Mayor Flanagan, Joe Rodrigues of the Community Housing Resource Board, and Old Colony YMCA CEO Vincent J. Marturano in breaking ground. (Bottom row, right) Tyrone Neal, Bill Kenny and Mayor Flanagan listen as YouthBuild founder Debi Kenny talks about how the project was launched.