Tre’ Quan (front) is joined by two others of River City YouthBuild on the front steps of their recent home-renovation project.

At 16 years old, Tre’Quan Wrighton of Plymouth, NC had dropped out of high school and was headed down a path of drugs, gang activity and street violence. But then, at a friend’s suggestion, he walked through the doors of YouthBuild on Ehringhaus Street and his life began to change.

The Elizabeth City nonprofit organization helps the area’s poorest and most at-risk youth literally turn their lives around. While in the program, students master job skills by building and renovating affordable housing and participating in community service.

“I was disappointing my mom every day,” Wrighton remembers. “I was a real hardhead back then. I was stubborn and I didn’t listen to anyone. I thought the program would be a waste of time, but I said OK.” Wrighton moved in with his grandmother in Elizabeth City and enrolled in River City YouthBuild. Two years later, now age 18, Wrighton has his GED, is working for Pepsi Corporation and will be taking business administration courses at the College of the Albemarle this fall. “YouthBuild stuck with me and broke me,” says Wrighton.

Wrighton is one of the dozens of area youth whose paths in life have been forever changed because they took a chance and let YouthBuild into their lives. “We call it a transformation program,” says director, Angie Wills. “The students who come into our program don’t leave the same.”
After graduating from the program, staff follows up with students for 9 – 12 months to ensure they stay employed or stay in college. “At the end of the day, we are not a success if the students are not able to get into college or get a job,” Wills said.

While the education and job skill components are important to the program, the mentorship, guidance and life lessons are what really have a lasting effect. Wills explains that former students serve as the biggest inspiration to other youth in the community who may benefit from YouthBuild. The program’s graduates are still part of the YouthBuild family and often come back years later as inspirational speakers who share their successes with staff and other students “We like to call [our alumni] the Dream Team.”

YouthBuild Job Developer/Education Coordinator Ray Scaffa says the program is working. “We are helping the students help themselves and they are growing and changing. The program finds the good in them and helps to make that blossom.”

A part of the River City Community Development Corporation, YouthBuild began in 1999, serves up to 60 youths aged 16 to 24 and is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Students work for six to 24 months to earn their GEDs. According to the Department of Labor statistics, the nation’s unemployment rate for the age group served by YouthBuild is a staggering 27 percent – a level not seen since World War II.

Scaffa says YouthBuild helps to get students in the workforce and become tax-paying citizens. YouthBuild graduates have been placed in jobs such as Hess, Pepsi, Corolla Classic Vacations and Holland Construction. The organization also enjoys a close partnership with the College of the Albemarle which provides two GED instructors to facilitate educational instruction. Aside from those instructors, the entire YouthBuild staff consists of Wills, Scaffa, a case worker, an administrative assistant and two construction instructors.

YouthBuild reaches out into the community regularly, providing community service hours to organizations such as local Chambers of Commerce, and the N.C. Aquarium, The Lost Colony theatre and the N.C. Coastal Federation all on Roanoke Island. In sum, students have performed 1,400 hours of community service to benefit Pasquotank, Camden and Dare counties since January of 2013. “Our students give back to the community and the community is open and welcome to that,” Wills said. Through an AmeriCorps grant, students who perform 450 hours of community service are awarded $1,400 to be used for college expenses.

There are a total of 273 YouthBuild programs nationwide that depend on U.S. Department of Labor funding. This year, however, over half, or 146 of those programs have seen their funding entirely eliminated. The Elizabeth City program was one of those programs. In fact, none of the three existing YouthBuild programs in North Carolina received funding for the upcoming year fiscal year of 2013-2014; only one new program in North Carolina was awarded grant money.

“We can reapply for the funding in 2014, but it is not a guarantee,” Wills said.

Program leaders are currently heading up a fundraising effort in the community to encourage local community leaders, organizations and officials to assist but without federal funding, the future of the Elizabeth City program is uncertain. “Our future looks very bleak unless we are able to identify gap [alternative] funding,” the director projected. “We also have to remember this program is not just helping these young people, but their families as well,” Wills adds. “Many of these kids were literally on the street and we brought them in and said, ‘there is a better way and here is what it is.’”

While he may not have seen it in the beginning, Wrighton recognizes now how far he has come. He speaks freely of his path into adulthood, “I am listening now and I allow people to help me. YouthBuild helped me get control of my attitude and respect older people. The love and support the team gave us is what has made the difference. When I felt like giving up, they were right there to tell me, ‘You’ve got this.’”♦

Author: Michelle Wagner

Michelle Wagner has been living and writing on the Outer Banks for over 15 years.