INDIANAPOLIS -- The YouthBuild Indy program is trying to help people in Marion County get a high school diploma so they can get good paying jobs.
An estimated 30,000 people between the ages of 18 and 24 in Marion County don't have a high school diploma.
"Most jobs don't want you unless you have some sort of certification or diploma. It was rough for a long time," said Lawrence Dean, YouthBuild program participant.
In addition to the high school equivalency exam, YouthBuild participants are taught how to rehab homes.
"Rebuilding a house is like rebuilding yourself. You are turned into a new person. Just like you are turning a brand new from when it was torn down. We rebuilt it. It's like rebuilding yourself. YouthBuild turned me into a new person I admire," said Daneille Rutland, YouthBuild program participant.
Rutland has her high school equivalency and now wants to go to college.
Jasmine Anderson, another program participant, wants to be a surgical tech and create a brighter future for her, her one-month-old daughter, and two other children.
"I want something better for them. Right now we are staying in low-income housing. I just want to better myself," said Anderson.
All of the YouthBuild program participants share that same goal.
"A lot of them have great ideas. They want to be entrepreneurs. They want to be welders. Some of them want to be culinary chefs. We help them find out what they want to do and navigate them into that," said Rodney Bussell, YouthBuild program manager
80 percent of the people in the YouthBuild program earn degrees or a certifications. 60 percent get a job.
