Building Futures

YEP trains young people in construction while they engage in projects that directly benefit the community. To date, hundreds of YEP trainees have rehabilitated more than 50 homes throughout Oakland for low-income families, in partnership with the Oakland Community Land Trust and Oakland Housing Authority. An example of two finished homes can be found here.

Construction trainees have also rehabilitated several public facilities, including YEP’s own building in the San Antonio neighborhood of Oakland. YEP was one of the first organizations in the nation to integrate green-building practices into our construction training.

Additionally, YEP construction trainees maintain and renovate our building and adjacent facilities, most recently building a 12-unit emergency housing tiny home community on YEP’s backlot.

Feeding the Homeless

With the completion of our commercial kitchen in 2019, YEP launched a Culinary Arts social enterprise. Young adults learn the basics of commercial food production and receive industry-recognized certification while preparing daily breakfast and dinner for the City of Oakland’s transitional community cabins and nearby alternative education high schools. YEP is in the process of ramping up production to extend to new markets and new training opportunities in the coming years.