Tacoma Goodwill receives $1.1 million grant to fund education and employment assistance

Based in Tacoma, Goodwill of the Olympics and Rainier Region has received a $1,100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to provide continuing funding for its YouthBuild program.

The grant was announced Wednesday by the department and is part of a $76 million total that will be provided to 72 YouthBuild programs in 31 states and the District of Columbia.

The department also announced funding for two other programs in Washington: Community Youth Services in Olympia and NorthEast Washington Educational Services District 101 in Spokane. Like the Tacoma program, both were given $1,100,000, the DOL stated.

Terry Hayes, Goodwill CEO, said Wednesday, “This is an opportunity to take youngsters who have not completed high school, help them get their GED and help them find jobs. It’s a game-changer for these kids who have struggled up to this point in their lives.”

In the nine-year history of YouthBuild in the South Sound, more than 300 youths have received training, and many have gone into construction jobs, according to Goodwill spokesman George White.

The first graduating class of 2015 — with another coming behind — worked 4,100 hours of combined training and volunteer construction service. Of 16 in the class, five were employed and five others were enrolling at local colleges, White said.

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 6:37 AM with the headline "Tacoma Goodwill receives $1.1 million grant to fund education and employment assistance."