YouthBuild – American Youthworks

Meet Courtney | CORE Service Coordinator

Kellie Lecompte — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 21:05:29 +0000

Courtney Reeves, the YouthBuild (YB) program CORE Service Coordinator, has been with American YouthWorks for nearly 10 years as a staff member, and before that was a participant in the YB program. Read on to hear Courtney’s story, from High School to now.

“Before joining YouthBuild, I attended Austin High School. I moved out on my own at 16, after a very troubled childhood and dropped out. I began working at a restaurant to support myself. After a while, I realized that I needed to return to school and enrolled at Garza, an alternative high school in Austin. Although the teachers and staff there were supportive, I struggled to stay on track academically and eventually stopped attending.

After a coupld of years of going back and forth between work and trying to finish school, I found American YouthWorks (AYW) and enrolled. I joined the Casa Verde Builders green construction program, earned my diploma, and received several certifications while gaining real-world experience. Most importantly, I found a community that believed in me and provided the encouragement I needed to succeed. For the first time, I felt seen, supported, and capable of building a better future.

After graduating from the program in 2009, I was a grad CVB member and then began working with AYW as an administrative assistant. I was in that role for almost a year before funing cuts led to layoffs, and I found myself unsure of what was next. During that time, I experienced homelessness and spent several years traveling the country by hitchhiking and riding freight trains. When I became pregnant, I decided to return to Texas to rebuild my life and raise my son.

Once I returned to Austin, I reconnected with AYW to see if there were opportunities to get back on track. I completed a WERC internship program, which provided job training and support, and before long, I was offered a temporary staff position that grew into a full-time role. Today, I’ve been a proud AYW staff member for nearly a decade.

YouthBuild truly changed the course of my life. It gave me the tools, confidence, and sense of belonging I needed when I had nowhere else to turn. Now, as someone who has grown within this organization and built a life I’m proud of, I’m committed to giving back and helping our members find their own success.

For me, YouthBuild will always be home — the place that believed in me before I belived in myself.”

YouthBuild Program

AYW 50th Story Series | Courtney Reeves, CORE Service Coordinator

Kellie Lecompte — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:37:29 +0000

The American YouthWorks community has been growing for 50 years now! In the AYW 50th Story Series, you’ll hear from staff and board members who are new and who have been with AYW for decades. Thank you to everyone in the AYW community for your dedication to creating Opportunities to Grow & Serve!

What is your name and position at AYW?
How long have you been working with AYW?
As a Staff Member, what have you learned or what has been your experience at AYW?
What is a hobby or interest you’d like to share?
Anything else to share with our audience?

What is your name and position at AYW?

Courtney Reeves, CORE Service Coordinator

How long have you been working with AYW?

Feb 2026 will be my 10 year

As a Staff Member, what have you learned or what has been your experience at AYW?

I graduated from American YouthWorks in 2009, and AYW has been part of my life ever since. Over the past 10 years of working here, I’ve learned the true meaning of resilience, community, and support. My journey started as a homeless teenager searching for stability, and through AYW I found not only opportunity but also a family that believed in me. From Administrative Assistant, Recruitment and Outreach, to now serving as CORE Service Coordinator, I’ve seen firsthand how life-changing this organization can be — for me and for every young person who walks through our doors.
AYW changed my entire life by pointing me in the right direction, thanks to Miss Yvette, Miss Jessica, Mr Matt, and to Mister David, I am what I am today

What is a hobby or interest you’d like to share?

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my kids. Who you will see often on campus! Traveling, spending time outdoors and reading.

Anything else to share with our audience?

AYW changed my life, and I’m proud to be part of giving that same opportunity to others. Every day, I see our members grow, succeed, and discover their own strength. It’s an honor to be a part of their journey, and I’m excited to see the impact AYW will continue to make for years to come.

Donate Today!

AYW 50th Story Series | David López, Alum

Kellie Lecompte — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:21:20 +0000

What is your name and connection to AYW?
How long have you been working with AYW?
As a participant, what has been your experience at AYW?
What is a hobby or interest you’d like to share?
Anything else to share with our audience?

What is your name and connection to AYW?

David López, Former Student, Forever Grateful Alumni

How long have you been working with AYW?

4 years

As a participant, what has been your experience at AYW?

AYW completely transformed my life by guiding me onto the right path. Thanks to the support and wisdom of Miss Yvette, Miss Jessica, Mr. Matt, and Mr. David, I have become the person I am today.

What is a hobby or interest you’d like to share?

I like working with computers and helping others.

Anything else to share with our audience?

Because of the love, guidance, and values you instilled in me, I now have the honor of giving back as the founder of D.O.D. Radiología e Imágenes.

Donate Today!

YB Story | Honesty L.

Kellie Lecompte — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 21:30:52 +0000

“At YouthBuild, I felt supported and treated like an adult. The staff encouraged me to stay focused and I was proud to earn my GED earlier. Through the Health Corps program, I earned my Community Health Worker certification and recently completed an externship with Community Care.” exerpt from below

“Before coming to American YouthWorks, I felt lost. I missed a lot of school while helping my mom care for my siblings. Then my credits didn’t transfer after moving states and I was going to be held back. That’s when my aunt told me about YouthBuild. My family kept telling me about it and I realized this would be a good opportunity. I heard how flexible they were and I thought it would give me some guidance in life.

At YouthBuild, I felt supported and treated like an adult. The staff encouraged me to stay focused and I was proud to earn my GED earlier. Through the Health Corps program, I earned my Community Health Worker certification and recently completed an externship with Community Care.

During the externship, I shadowed different employees in various roles at Community Care, including Registered Nurses, CHWs, and physicians. It was inspiring to see how passionate they were about their work. I was impressed at how they collaborated across departments to meet patient needs. Even though team members often came from different departments, they all worked together to provide support for the patients.

Now, I’m looking for a job and planning to enroll in school to pursue a career in dentistry starting with becoming a dental hygienist. YouthBuild gave me the direction and confidence I needed to move forward.” – Honesty L

YouthBuild

AYW 50th Story Series | Dionne Labatad, Staff Member

Kellie Lecompte — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 20:54:43 +0000

What is your name and position at AYW?

Dionne K Labatad, Integrated Education and Training Instructor YouthBuild in Taylor

How long have you been working with AYW?

2 years

As a Staff Member, what have you learned or what has been your experience at AYW?

I learned this is a very supportive program for our Rural Community. There are many opportunities in our community for our youth and they just don’t know where to start. Having this YouthBuild program in Taylor is a great start for them. The youth in the community is learning about themselves and what they are able to achieve. They are learning the baby steps to take to accomplish their goals and most importantly the supporting system they have to get them through when the going gets rough. They are learning to overcome their fears and adapt to situations as they occur. They are building self-confidence and becoming indepent, and understanding they need to act upon what they want to achieve in life. Whether it being short-term or long-term goals, achieving their GED and Pathways Certification, being able to financialy budget and the importance of setting goals, they can do it. Understanding is clarifing what they don’t know. Becoming an adult is not about getting their GED and Pathways Certification, but where it will take them and how far they can go with it.

What is a hobby or interest you’d like to share?

My dream has always been being able to work with the youth and help them grow and become successful in life. I have done this kind of work voluntarily all my life. Now working at a place where I have a passion is endless. I love what I do and am happy that YouthBuild in Taylor took me under their wings to help our youth community fly high!

Anything else to share with our audience?

A dream is never “NOT WORTH DREAMING” it is worth making that Dream a Reality. The Reality is living your dream!

The YouthBuild program in Taylor had our very first Milestone Celebration — 10 Successful Graduates, CPR Certified, OSHA Certified, and MFG SME Associate Certification!

Donate Today!

YB Story | Marco

Kellie Lecompte — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 16:08:00 +0000

Congratulations to all the YouthBuild program participants who graduated last week! A YouthBuild participant in the IT/Manufacturing career training pathway, shares the story of how Marco came to American YouthWorks, the things accomplished in the YouthBuild program, and what it’s meant to Marco.

“After football ended, I just stopped going to school. Football was really the only reason I stayed interested, and once that was over, I didn’t see the point. I ended up getting court-ordered to attend a GED program for truancy and that’s how I found AYW.

Out of all the options the judge gave me, YouthBuild stood out the most. I’m glad I chose it.

At first, the hardest part of the program was just waiting, waiting on things to come together, waiting to feel like I was making progress. But the program helped me by giving me a new environment to learn in. It felt different. I got a lot more one-on-one support, and it actually helped me focus and get things done.

Before YouthBuild, I didn’t really have any goals. But through the program, I started setting them for myself. I earned my GED, my Manufacturing Certification, OSHA 10, and IC3 Level 1. Those are things I didn’t see myself doing before
I was in the IT/Manufacturing track and got to work on cool projects like the e-waste initiative, designing shirts for Shepherd’s Heart, and our program t-shirts. I even learned how to use a Cricut and heat press, and I got better with computers and math, like actual polynomials, which I didn’t think I’d ever understand.

Right now, I’m just chillin and thinking about my next steps. I’ve been meeting with college advisors and looking into different post-education options. YouthBuild helped me get my GED and other certifications, and now I’m figuring out what comes next.

Long term, I want to work on a pipeline crew or start my own demolition and land clearing business. I’ve got real goals now and YouthBuild helped make that possible.”

YouthBuild

YB Story | Willard

Kellie Lecompte — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 18:27:43 +0000

My name is Willard, a nationally recognized AmeriCorps member. Before I was introduced to YouthBuild Austin, I was uncertain of my future, confused, and lost in life. I just got out of doing 18 months in jail and I had no education, I was unemployed, and I was clueless.

Before I was evicted from my last place, I lived down the street from American YouthWorks. Every time I rode the bus I was curious about the place I passed. After I was denied at Job Corps, I decided to see what American YouthWorks was all about.

I started planning on getting my GED. After I failed the first GED test, I felt discouraged and wanted to quit school again but the staff came up with another plan. I was informed I could try and take my TAKS tests over the summer and if I did well there might be a possibility of me being able to get my diploma. So I stuck it out and passed all four TAKS tests and enrolled into the diploma program.

I also participated in the Media Corps program. We learned how to refurbish computers that we donated to low-income families. Along with that we learned how to use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro and earned certifications. We learned graphic design, screen-printing and wood engraving, filming, video editing, and so on…

Mind you, I began trying to get my GED and I finished with a high school diploma. I just walked the stage at graduation with my whole family and little girl watching thanks to the amazing staff at YouthBuild Austin. Now I plan to get a job with the City of Austin. I have my second interview next week! That’s not all…I already have a plan to get my CDL and go to college for music.

YouthBuild Program

YB Story | Mario

Kellie Lecompte — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 18:19:46 +0000

As a child I was born into a family that was just starting to fall apart, I lost my father at a very young age, and my mom was a hard working individual so she was never really around. She made sure we had food on the table, and a roof over our head. The loss of my father really affected me growing up, I felt as if I had no role model or no one there to teach me right from wrong so I taught myself.

Growing up, I did a lot of things normal kids wouldn’t do. I would roam the streets to find some kind of excitement, which normally lead to trouble. I found myself in the wrong crowd, with the wrong influences. I was always the smart one out the bunch, I always thought twice about what I did or what I was about to do, and that technique stayed with me until this day. Without this technique, I honestly don’t know where I’d be. As I got older, I started to figure out that I was on the earth alone, and it was up to me to define my life. I started to act the way a normal kid should, go to school, come home, do homework, and play games. Anything that kept me occupied was a good thing. It kept my mind off the negativity. I had straight A’s and B’s throughout my elementary and middle school years, but when I got to the 8th grade my troubles caught back up to me. I ran into the crowd I was avoiding all those years, and there were way more problems from when I was a kid. I got involved with the laws, and into a whole bunch of fights that I thought would eventually lead to prison or maybe even death. As I started to fall apart, my grades dropped as well as my attendance, and I felt that school wasn’t for me anymore. When I became a freshman, I didn’t even attend school, but I created my son, which would change my life forever.

I slowly changed my life around…. my grades went up, and my attendance got better but it wasn’t enough come my senior year. I didn’t have enough credits to graduate. I was becoming an adult, which meant I had adult priorities that I couldn’t really fulfill, and I lost hope in myself! I felt as if I was letting my family down. That summer I ran into a friend that told me about a school that could help me graduate and would pay me as long as I attended school. I seriously considered it because I had bills to pay and I needed that diploma if I wanted to be something in life. I attended American YouthWorks and joined a program called YouthBuild that built houses for low-income families. It really taught me a lot and changed the way I looked at the world. I met a lot of people that made me feel like I wasn’t on this earth alone and that I could be something in life for my family. I became a welder and really started to get ahead of the game, but I still wasn’t a graduate and that was the goal I was trying to accomplish even with the thousands of roadblocks I faced. I never gave up hope! Going to ACC to learn welding motivated me even more because I knew if I didn’t graduate, I was never really going to move up in the welding industry and that was money I was losing to provide for my family.

I finally finished my assignments that I needed to get my credits to graduate, and that was the greatest relief I had ever felt. I knew then that I was on the road to success and I can be anything I want to be if I put my mind to it. I honestly think my Dad was next to me the whole time, not in sight but in spirit pushing me to do right even when I was doing wrong. Now I’m graduating and I couldn’t feel more proud of myself.

YouthBuild Program

YB Story | Janice

Kellie Lecompte — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 06:00:43 +0000

I would like to start off this story by introducing myself. My name is Janice. I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. I came to Austin, Texas in 2005 after a Hurricane Katrina. I was only 14 years old at the time and this was my very first time coming to a new city, leaving my hometown that we called “The Boot.”

In Austin, I was targeted by middle school girls for being a “tom boy.” The school placed me into a program for students that were refugees from New Orleans. This program made us all stand out and we were targeted even more. I started getting into fights, I was even stabbed. This caused me so much damage to the point my grades started to drop. I stuck through it and it took many years to finish all my credits in school, but I could never pass the TAKS test. I tried so many times, but eventually gave up. I got in some legal trouble, because of a so called “friend,” but it made me realize something. That evening I came and sat down, looked at my daughter, and at that moment I told myself I’ll do better by her because she needs someone to protect her and guide her through life.

The next day my friend asked me to come to American YouthWorks with her so she could join the program. I found out that I could join too and work on my TAKS even though I was over 21. American YouthWorks took me in with open arms and opened my mind, not to mention so many doors because of all my accomplishments since I’ve been here.

I have learned so much in the Media Corps Program. Mr. Matt is brilliant teacher, so down to earth, and the other teacher, Ms. Kim, is so sweet. They help students such as myself learn computers skills. These computers are fixed up and donated to families in need. The step that excited me the most, I must admit, was being able to donate the computers back into my community. This made me proud of my work, knowing it would be useful and helping someone else, giving them an opportunity too. In Media Corps, we volunteer as much as possible. This way my classmates and I have the opportunity to have hands on experience to help people in our community and elsewhere in Austin.

My journey was not easy and I kept taking the TAKS test and failing by a few points. My childcare was denied four times for no reason while in the program. I felt like giving up at times, but YouthBuild would not give up on me. This school, I now call home. It is a family that looks for courage and dedication in people, to help them see their potential and give them will power to wake up every day, to be on time, and try your hardest. They saw something in me that with their help, I started to see too.

This school helped me clear my background, get childcare back, gave me training, and amongst other things, they got me ready to be successful. I am now able to see a difference in my life and in my children’s lives. Finally, in June I received my diploma and was able to walk the stage in my cap and gown. I participated in the Community Health Worker’s Certification Program and now I am enrolled in Austin Community College’s CNA (Certified Nurse Aide) Program for January 2017.

I have not one but two education awards to use toward college. This program helped me through it all. I was given resources I didn’t know existed. They cheered me on throughout my journey and still to this day, because like we say here, “Once YouthBuild, always YouthBuild!!

YouthBuild Program