YUTE Annual Report 2014

NHT BUILDS THE NATION WITH YUTE
“Success is not final, failure is
not fatal: it is the courage to
continue that counts,” words of
Winston Churchill, could
summarize the YUTE
programme, which continues to
make a positive impact in the
Jamaican society.
As a charitable organisation,
YUTE’s continued success
cannot be achieved without
strategic partners, who guide
and provide critical support to this
groundbreaking initiative. The
National Housing Trust (NHT) is
one such organisation, which has
contributed generously and
tangibly to the YUTE initiative.
“NHT as an organisation, is
invested in building Jamaica, and
that is not limited solely to our
mandate to provide affordable
solutions to the housing sector,”
says Donald Moore, Senior
General Manager of NHT.
Since 2012, through their joint
programme, YUTE Build, more
than 150 youth between the ages
of 18 and 29 who reside in vulnerable
communities across Kingston,
St. Andrew and St. Catherine,
have benefitted from vocational
and life skills training, certification
and work experience in General
Construction. The programme
is implemented in collaboration
with HEART NTA and the
Jamaica Emergency Employment
Programme (JEEP). This
association has not looked back
since as NHT, to date, remains
one of YUTE’s major benefactors.
The agency provided $32
million in financial support for
Phase 2 of the YUTE Build
programme, launched by Prime
Minister Portia Simpson Miller
in February in 2014. That phase
is scheduled to be completed in
December 2015. “The NHT is
incredibly proud of its many
successes over the last few
years,” Mr. Moore continued.
“It is a most coherent mix, to build
the capacity of the youth of this
country, who deserve a chance to
prove their worth, and then witness
the same youth contribute in the
most meaningful way to the
development of Jamaica.”
“By imparting new skills to our
youth, we are seeking to engage
them in the national productivity
drive.
Equally important, we want
them to develop and maintain a
sense of self-worth which is
essential to their physical,
mental and social well-being,” Mrs.
Simpson Miller said, at the
signing of the YUTE Build
Memorandum of Understanding, in
February 2014.
NHT has a multipronged
engagement with YUTE – from
identifying deserving youth from
inner city communities, aiding in
their screening and recruitment
process, to providing placement
of participants in work opportunities
that are identified in collaboration
with NHT’s contractors and
builders. Additionally, YUTE
participants have assisted the
NHT’s team with a number of
special projects, including its
Annual Labour Day Project at the
Mobile Reserve of the Jamaica
Constabulary Force in 2014.
“We are beyond grateful
for the unwavering support
and encouragement provided
to the YUTE Build programme
by the Prime Minister and the
leadership, management and
staff of the NHT,” said Joseph
Matalon, Chairman of YUTE, “It
has achieved noticeable and
measurable impact created in
part, by all of the heart, team
work and multi-stakeholder
commitment that is required to
effectively create change and
sustainable impact at the
community level.
“Critically,” he added, “The
strategic partnership with the
NHT, has given the much
needed impetus to strive to
achieve higher goals, to reach
out to more communities and
contribute tangibly in building
Jamaica, one youth, and one
building block at a time.”
YUTE ANNUAL REPORT | JANUARY 2014 - DECEMBER 2014 22