Development organization working for local youth

LYNN – The North Shore Community Development Coalition is building life skills for its youth group while working on improvements for the city.While the coalition recognizes the importance of improving the community, its “focus is on serving youth and giving them work skills,” said Jackie Giordano, director of external affairs. “We want our students to get hands-on, affordable housing and project skills.”The coalition will be revitalizing neighborhoods in four communities within the next month, including parts of West Lynn as well as Beverly, Salem and Peabody.The work in Lynn will be done Friday, Aug. 14 on Neptune Court, South Street and South Street Court, Giordano said.Light construction is planned for Lynn, primarily on residents’ homes, including painting, weeding, trash removal and fence repairs, said Giordano.Each city will receive two “Build Days” of neighborhood revitalization, including a Regional Build Day on Saturday Aug. 15.Build Days are something that the coalition has been doing for years, Giordano said. However, this year there will be more than usual.”We used to just do one Build Day,” said Giordano. “It filled up so quickly that we couldn’t fill the needs of the people who wanted to volunteer.”This prompted the coalition to expand to four different locations on four different Friday afternoons throughout July and August, plus the additional Regional Build Day, during which volunteers will work on all four locations at the same time.”Every site has completely reached capacity except for Lynn on the Regional Build Day,” she said. “To say that we’ve been able to recruit that many people who are looking to give back is amazing.”Up to 100 people can volunteer for each event. “We have 100 for Friday in Lynn and for the Regional Build Day in Lynn we have 25 people,” she said.The coalition is a community development organization that goes into distressed neighborhoods and creates affordable housing. Its youth job program, YouthBuild North Shore, will lead the revitalization efforts along with volunteers from the community who either live or work in the city.The program has recently expanded to serve Lynn and Salem.”We really believe that communities are built from the ground up,” said Giordano. “We give community development. We work with residents to see how we can create self efficiency, other than through housing.””Every neighborhood is different,” she said. “What works in one neighborhood might not work for another. Its really the vision of the residents.”If you repair five properties, the sixth and seventh neighbors might be inspired to repair their properties too,” she said. “We’re really hoping to start a ripple effect.”YouthBuild is the coalition’s most well-known and largest program. It serves 50 youth annually who “are between 16 and 24 and have ripped out of conventional high school for a number of reasons,” she said.”We bring them back into an educational component, whether it’s a high school degree or the GED route,” she said.”YouthBuild North Shore empowers young adults with the competency and desire to transform their lives and improve their communities through education, employment, and leadership development,” Giordano said.The students in YouthBuild are not only provided the opportunity to get an education, but they are also given the opportunity to gain experience in the workforce, for which they are compensated.”Our program helps them get their education and gives them work force development skills,” she said.One hundred percent of graduates from the program have either found a job or gone to college, which is 15 percent more than conventional high school, Giordano said.The program is free and serves low-income youth, many of whom live in Lynn. “We get them in, and they leave our program with either a diploma or GED at no cost,” she said.The program targets Salem and Lynn but also has a few slots open for young adults in surrounding communities.”There will be 100 volunteers working with our youth