Sandra Quel, 19, has been living on her own since she was 16 years old, when she got into drugs and dropped out of school. Frustrated by the choices she’d made, she joined the YouthBuild program, where low-income young people work toward their high school diploma while building affordable housing. Now Sandra is mentoring other young people through YouthBuild and AmeriCorps while she attends Montgomery College.
What was a typical day like as part of the YouthBuild program?
In Youth Build there is a two-week rotation. For two weeks one group is in school, the other is in construction, and then they switch. I would work with YouthBuild or go to school from 8:45 to 3:30, clock in to work at McDonald’s at 4:30 and I’d get out of there at 10:30.
Did you know anything about construction?
Not really. We knew we’d be building homes but it didn’t really hit us until we started working and doing things that regular construction companies do like making cement, grabbing a shovel and doing landscaping and roofing.
How many homes did you help build?
We helped rebuild three homes in Gulfport, Miss., and we worked on two or three condos for low-income families in Washington in Southeast’s Trinidad neighborhood.
What was your favorite experience?
My favorite thing would have to be what we did in Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina victims. We got to meet the people we were helping, they told us their stories and it did feel good doing things for them.
What did you take from the program?
It got me thinking about what I want to do: I really want to be an engineer — either civil, environmental or an aerospace engineer. I really just want to make things. I’m also trying to give back by working with AmeriCorps to mentor D.C. public school students whose parents might not be around a lot.
