Allied in Health: YouthBuild Newark awarded $175,000 grant by The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey to Support Partnership with District 1199J Training and Development Fund
Newark, New Jersey — YouthBuild Newark (YBN), a workforce development initiative of Opportunity Youth Network (OYN), was recently awarded the “Preparing Opportunity Youth for Postsecondary Success in Allied Health,” grant by The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (HFNJ). OYN is a Newark-based nonprofit dedicated to improving the outcomes of opportunity youth - young people ages 16-24 who are not in school and not working - in the state through education, workforce development, policy advocacy, and systems building.
YBN was awarded a grant of $175,000 for the second consecutive year and is one of six organizations that received funding from HFNJ during Quarter 2 of 2023. Others include The HUBB Arts & Trauma Center, MEND, All Stars Project, Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation and Branchbrook Park Alliance.
“We are extremely grateful to have been awarded funding for a second year,” said OYN Founder and Chief Executive Officer Robert Clark. “The support of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey allows us to continue our work building postsecondary pathways for young people and giving those young people the skills they need to successfully enter the workforce.”
The grant will help support the sustainability and growth of YBN’s Allied Health track by preparing opportunity youth in Newark for entry-level careers in healthcare and a successful transition to post-secondary placement. Additionally, the funding supports a newly established partnership between YBN and the Training and Development Fund at District 1199J that provides a pre-apprenticeship program for YBN students through which they have the opportunity to earn a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) credential.
District 1199J, New Jersey’s original healthcare union, administers Department of Labor (DOL) approved pre-apprenticeship programs that provide young people valuable skills, prepares them for credential exams, and helps place them in hospitals and nursing homes throughout the state for paid apprenticeships. District 1199J's partnership with YBN offers extended high-quality education and workforce development services to young people and increases the number of opportunity youth within Essex County that enter careers in healthcare.
“There is a well-documented shortage of healthcare workers, particularly CNAs, throughout the country, said Dr. Stephanie Harris-Kuiper, Executive Director of District 1199J’s Training and Development Fund. “We are honored to be partnered with YouthBuild Newark and the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey as we all work together to address this shortage while simultaneously reducing the number of opportunity youth in the state.”
Founded in 1996, The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey works to reduce disparities and promote quality and affordable health for those living in Newark and the environs and the Jewish Greater MetroWest communities.
Michael Schmidt, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, added, “At a time of significant changes in the workforce in which many organizations lack qualified healthcare staff, this grant will help support the critical needs of understaffed institutions in the community. At the same time, it will create a career ladder in a widening number of health fields for young people who seek to join the healthcare workforce, but first need this mentorship and tailored education. We look forward to continuing our partnership with YouthBuild Newark and District 1199J as they work in partnership toward their continued success of this project.”
To learn more about the postsecondary pathways YBN offers Newark’s young people, visit https://www.youthbuildnewarknj.org/.
