{"id":1717,"date":"2021-04-13T15:14:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T15:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=1717"},"modified":"2021-04-13T15:14:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T15:14:22","slug":"building-with-a-mission-nonprofit-takes-on-youth-employment-housing-shortage-in-baltimore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/?p=1717","title":{"rendered":"Building With A Mission: Nonprofit Takes On Youth Employment, Housing Shortage In Baltimore"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/span>\u00a0Kevin Michael Briscoe\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

With thousands of vacant properties in\u00a0Baltimore<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 said to be as many as 15,000 in 2020 \u2014 the city has been struggling for years with an\u00a0affordable housing crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A relatively new nonprofit, founded by two people who do not live in Baltimore, is trying to address the issue \u201cone nail at a time.\u201d It provides training and job opportunities for the city\u2019s underserved and formerly incarcerated youths.<\/p>\n

Claudia B. Jones and Aaron D. Thompson, co-founders of\u00a0HTP Homes\u00a0<\/a>in 2019, have raised money through a\u00a0crowdfunding campaign<\/a>\u00a0\u201cto re-engage Baltimore City youth into building their neighborhoods by building themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

HTP Housing acquires vacant houses in need of rehabilitation. The houses \u201cserve as on-site, hands-on training and education facilities. Trainees in the 18-month occupational skills program learn all aspects of renovating houses, including demolition, framing, drywall installation, tile work, carpentry, painting, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC skills,\u201d the nonprofit\u2019s crowdfunding site says.<\/p>\n

\u201cProgram participants are paid an allowance with achievement-based increases to recognize and reward progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nonprofit\u2019s founders hope their efforts will help reduce the high homicide rate. In 2019, Baltimore recorded the highest homicide rate of U.S. cities with a population over 250,000, at 58.27 homicides per 100,000 residents, according to\u00a0data<\/a>\u00a0from Statista. Last year, the city recorded 335 homicides.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to bring jobs and homeownership to Baltimore to stop the violence,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

A new mission<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
When Jones retired from AT&T after nearly 23 years, one of only three black female senior vice presidents, she was looking for a new mission, something that would enrich the lives of those neglected by society.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI always knew I\u2019d get into a situation where I\u2019d say, \u2018Now it\u2019s time for me to leave and do something more philanthropic, but in a personal way,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAaron and I became business partners buying real estate, and we focused on providing homes to single moms that were first-time homeowners. We realized you can make a difference on a small scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

By taking young and at-risk adult men into the construction business and teaching them trade skills, \u201cwe realized that, just like with single moms, we could make a difference in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson grew up in Palmer Park, Maryland, a tough suburb of Washington, D.C., where he had a front-row view of the troubles that plague many inner cities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came up in an environment of at-risk youth myself. When I was 7 years old, I witnessed my first homicide,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a tough environment, but I was fortunate to have a very good dad. Instead of joining a gang, I joined the Guardian Angels. I served with the Guardian Angels for 28 years &mldr; and through those years, I learned to help a lot of people, and I saw exactly what was going on out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a Guardian Angel, Thompson, who also logged a 3-0 record in a brief professional boxing career, started working for a construction company. After becoming a master carpenter, he opened East Coast Design Build, a licensed general-contracting company with a list of established and well-regarded clients. At this point, Thompson was laying the foundation for what would eventually become HTP Homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys would come home from prison, and I\u2019d say, \u2018Hey man, let me give you a job,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI would hire them and give them a trade. I\u2019ve helped hundreds of men that are now doing well, and some even have their own businesses. They needed direction; they needed someone to be right there [for them].\u201d<\/p>\n

Al Jollof, an East Coast Design Build employee, speaks highly of Thompson and HTP Homes for providing the road map for his future.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents are from Sierra Leone, and they separated when I was young. I watched my mother work two jobs to support the seven of us. I know how it was to struggle, so there are certain similarities between my story and the kids [in the program],\u201d Jollof said. \u201cBut, Mr. Thompson is a great mentor and father figure who always had my back.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he is busy building his skill set in painting, hanging drywall, and installing windows, Jollof is also a role model for others through HTP Homes\u2019 efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to teach the kids, to help them grow as Mr. Thompson did for me,\u201d said Jollof, who would like to become a general contractor.<\/p>\n

While Thompson was taking at-risk young adults like Jollof under his wing, it became apparent that to have a greater community impact, a different strategy was needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, we had a conversation that would formalize what he had been doing for years,\u201d Jones said. HTP Homes was incorporated as a 501(c)3 in November 2019.<\/p>\n

Baltimore is only the beginning<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jones and Thompson believe they are contributing to a \u201csafer and more equitable Baltimore\u201d via HTP Homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf black lives ever mattered, then the thing to do is deescalate the crime. Housing is simply the vehicle we used to do that,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

Largely self-funded by its co-founders and past grants from the Gannett and Verizon Foundations, HTP Homes has recently applied for funding from the city\u2019s Community Catalyst Grants Program and Community Block Grant Program, which fund revitalization efforts and aim to expand the city\u2019s affordable housing.<\/p>\n

HTP Homes is using these funds to target\u00a0\u201copportunity youth\u201d\u2014 those between 16 and 24 who neither work nor attend school.<\/p>\n

Lower incomes, higher unemployment rates, and bad health outcomes among these disconnected youths cost taxpayers $93 billion annually and $1.6 trillion over their lifetimes in lost revenues and increased social services, according to the American Youth Policy Forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaltimore has one of the highest numbers of opportunity youth in the nation,\u201d said Jones. \u201cBut Baltimore\u2019s 2017-2020 Local Workforce Plan estimates there will be a hiring demand for as many as 11,000 construction jobs that require some level of on-the-job or apprenticeship training. This is where HTP Homes steps in with our \u2018earn and learn\u2019 job pathway model.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking to train 16 to 22 kids this year,\u201d said Thompson. \u201cAnd, if each individual sticks with the program, I can ensure them a full-time job, either with my company or another company.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program at work<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Jan. 18, HTP Homes hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a property on Harford Road \u2014 its first project.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the home is fixed and renovated, we\u2019ll sell it to a first-time homeowner at no profit, and the proceeds will go back into the nonprofit, so we can continue the process,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cThis is about the kids; this is about stopping the violence.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Eric W. King, a Baltimore native, and former HTP Homes board member helped connect Jones and Thompson with community leaders to establish the program\u2019s framework. He believes the organization has the potential to transform Baltimore.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know the troubles that Baltimore has experienced, and they will be there long after HTP Homes,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if one life can be changed, it has the potential to change a family, then change a community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Zenger News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Kevin Michael Briscoe\u00a0 With thousands of vacant properties in\u00a0Baltimore\u00a0\u2014 said to be as many as 15,000 in 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories-from-the-community"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1719,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions\/1719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/africanamericanvoice.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}