August 24, 2016 – The winner is: Rick Clemens. He is from out of the area and happened to come to the Nevada County Fair. He bought a few tickets to support the school. When he realized that he won he decided to donate the house to the John Muir Charter Foundation (a separate entity from Western Sierra YouthBuild as a school) and is encouraging that the Foundation to sell or auction the tiny house in order to further raise money for the school. This was incredibly generous since the house if valued at $35K or more!
Director, Anita Bagwell and staff, would like to express gratitude to all who supported this endeavor with the purchase of a ticket or an encouraging word at the fair. “WSYB students have built something “real” that they can not only put on display in a public fashion as something that they have done well, they received the opportunity to speak openly and proudly about what they have contributed to and are a part of. These are also vital components of the transformation process of at risk young adults, seeking to change their track records and at the beginning steps of writing a new future for themselves in our community.”
The school was able to raise awareness with local partnering nonprofit organizations (Sierra Roots and Opportunity Village Nevada City) about the housing and the homeless crises in Nevada County. These 18-25 year olds have a vested interest in addressing these issues as young leaders, which is another vital portion of the transformation process in the YouthBuild model.