Atlas Contractors and Rochester Cornerstone team together to construct home

Atlas Contractors, LLC and Rochester Cornerstone Group, Ltd. have teamed together to construct a single-family house for a low-income family utilizing youth enrolled in the Urban League's YouthBuild Rochester program. The house is located on Broad St. adjacent to Sahlen's Stadium. Construction is slated to commence this month. The home will contain three bedrooms and total 1,200 s/f. YouthBuild Rochester, an Urban League of Rochester program for out-of-school youth ages 18-24, and its students will be on site for different stages of construction from excavation to masonry and carpentry, electric, plumbing and others. This hands-on experience will provide enlightenment to the many opportunities in real estate construction. This construction effort on Broad St. is located in the area where Charles Settlement House and Rochester's Cornerstone Group are developing 45 single-family rental homes for income eligible families. 17 of the 45 Stadium Estates homes have been completed. The project will be completed at the end of the year. YouthBuild Rochester Director Mubarak Bashir said that "this is a great opportunity for our students to not only enhance their skills that they have received while in our program, but also to give back to the community. We are truly grateful to Atlas Contractors, Rochester's Cornerstone Group, and all of the other companies that came together to make this possible." Organizations participating through contributions of in-kind services include SWBR Architects, Stantec, Davidson Fink, LLP and 84 Lumber. The Urban League of Rochester YouthBuild program collaborates with Monroe Community College and Flower City Habitat for Humanity. The YouthBuild Rochester program provides construction training, high school equivalency classes, leadership development training, job preparation, and placements to out-of-school youth ages 18-24. Participants receive stipends while participating in the program, and those who complete the 144-hour occupational training earn the National Association of Home Builders' Pre-Apprenticeship Certification Training (PACT) Certificate. The PACT certificate would enable participants to enter entry level construction jobs and apprenticeships. They also gain hands-on experience building homes with Habitat for Humanity, Urban League of Rochester's Economic Development Corporation and the Greater Rochester Housing Partnership.