The School of Architecture at Southern Illinois University has been awarded a 100,500.00 sub-grant to support its upcoming partnership with community resource center The Delta Center in Cairo, IL. 

This sub-grant, coordinated by Assistant Professors Shannon McDonald, Laura Morthland, and Chad Schwartz, along with core project founder Professor Emeritus Robert Swenson, is part of a larger 727,500.00 grant awarded to the Delta Center by the United States Department of Labor to initiate a YouthBuild program in Cairo and surrounding Alexander County. 

YouthBuild is a community-based alternative education program that provides classroom instruction geared towards obtaining high school diplomas or GEDs along with occupational skills training in the construction industry for at-risk individuals ages 16-24. 

Amongst other responsibilities, the School of Architecture will provide the YouthBuild program with permitted construction documents for small single family residences generated by SIU architecture and interior design students while studying in a pair of building technology courses being tailored to this partnership. 

A third course, offered in the summer, will give these students an opportunity to spend four weeks in Cairo working side-by-side with the YouthBuild students during the construction process.  In addition, the faculty involved will be providing services to the program that include mentorship for women in the profession and LEED accreditation expertise.