“My name is Ciera Russum and I’m a member of the Advanced Construction team at YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School. We worked with the Green Building team to complete a full-gut rehab project on Greene Street.

In the past year, this house was completely transformed. So was my life. When I first saw the house, there were holes in the floor and the wallpaper was peeling all the way down to the brick. It was literally an abandoned house. I had a lot of doubts about whether I could complete the program, and even more doubts about whether a group of inexperienced students could rebuild the home.” Click here to read more

Ciera Russum was YouthBuild Philadelphia’s student speaker at the August 2 ribbon-cutting ceremony on Greene Street. This is the first project to be finished under the three-year partnership between Saint-Gobain North America and YouthBuild USA to provide young adults with green construction skills.

Click here for more information about the partnership with YouthBuild USA.