ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A home-building program is also building construction careers for local residents who didn’t reach their educational finish line right away.

It’s an opportunity for people like Armani Yazzie, who moved from Gallup to Albuquerque for a second chance after getting kicked out of school.

“I got into this program, and I’m really starting to like it now,” he said.

Next to Yazzie in class is 20-year-old Kingston Pacheco. Jail time kept him from getting his high school degree.

“I’m just doing my best, you know? And I want to actually bring something to my probation officer and my judge to show them I actually am working hard and doing something,” Pacheco said.

Like Yazzie, Pacheco is determined to head down a different path.

“It’s never too late to turn around. And it’s getting bad out here in the streets,” he said.

Teachers with the Youth Build program are there to help them make it happen.

Youth Build is a national program that allows cities to partner with builders and contractors to give students education and on-the-job training. Youth Development Inc., a New Mexico organization, used federal funds to bring Youth Build back to Albuquerque for two years.

“It’s a six-month program that really takes commitment. It takes time, it takes dedication for them to finish,” said Concha Cordova, the vice president of the education, employment and training division of YDI.

Youth Build tailored the program to 16-24-year-olds who didn’t finish secondary education but have an interest in a construction career.

“High school equivalency classes, construction training classes, and then some of those hours are on the work site. They’ll be working with contractors and professional contractors, building affordable housing for low-income individuals,” Cordova said.

They lined up the students with an opportunity to help with Sol Housing’s Farolito Senior Community. It’s an affordable housing community that leaders broke ground on that last month near Central and Eubank.

“It takes some commitment. It takes them wanting to do this. But we’re here to support them. We’re here to help them, and we want to see them succeed,” Cordova said.

They say they want the same.

“I actually feel good by myself. I can sleep in my own skin at night and wake up not worrying about anything like who’s after me or what I have to do. It’s just that I have to get my education done and think about the future,” Pacheco said.

YouthBuild has room for a dozen more students in this six-month session. If you miss out there will be three more that you can read about here at this link.