Services

IYI creates pathways for young adults ages 16–24 to earn their high school diploma, build career-ready skills, and chart a course toward the future they want, with educators, mentors, and career and life coaches, and mental health professionals by their side every step of the way.

IYI is a re-engagement high school, and a YouthBuild affiliate designed to meet the unique needs of young people who have disengaged from traditional high school. Our IYI model includes everything you need to move forward:

• A one-year track to earn your NJ high school diploma;
• Job training and certifications;
• Job and school placement services;
• Life and leadership skills; and
• One-on-one counseling and mentorship.

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These performance gaps between Trenton students’ rates and the national student average rates don’t reflect a lack of local student potential or ability. Instead, they reflect the systemic lack of resources and support to address the challenges Trenton students face. Isles created IYI because we believe that every young person, regardless of their circumstances, deserves the chance to realize their full potential.

An IYI success story

A story of resilience: One graduate’s journey to a new beginning

Some journeys to success don’t follow straight lines, and that perhaps makes them an even more remarkable effort. A particular Isles Youth Institute student first joined our program in late 2023, but when ongoing struggles with substance use required her full attention, she stepped away to focus on her recovery. When she was ready to return, we enthusiastically welcomed her back because, at IYI, we know that healing and growth rarely follow a tidy path.

Rejoining the program in 2025, she arrived with something different about her: a quiet determination and a genuine readiness for change. About three months in, she shared that she was expecting a baby, a revelation that deepened her resolve rather than diminishing it. Despite significant academic hurdles and moments of real self-doubt (“I can’t read,” she would sometimes say, or “I’m no good at math”), IYI staff supported her every step of the way, consistently affirming the potential they saw in her.

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Slowly, she began to believe it herself. She accepted homework assignments. She brought books home to read. She put in many hours of study outside the classroom. Those small steps became strides, and those strides became leaps. Knowing she was working not just for herself but for the little one on the way, she tackled assignments with growing confidence and threw herself into academic discussions with new enthusiasm.

The results spoke for themselves. After months of exhaustively diligent effort, she passed all four GED subject tests and walked the graduation stage with her fellow classmates. Her writing had improved so dramatically that she was honored with a special writing award at the IYI 2025 Graduation Ceremony. In the months following graduation, she welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world and continued her educational journey. She enrolled at Fortis Institute in the certified nursing assistant program and is on track to graduate this year with a clear career path ahead of her.

“Her story is a testament to what becomes possible when someone is met with patience, encouragement, and unwavering belief in their potential,” said Chantea Hobson, Director of Isles Youth Institute, “We are so proud of everything she has accomplished and everything still to come.”

Why IYI matters

IYI is one part of Isles’ broader vision for a community where everyone can grow and thrive. By addressing systemic educational gaps and creating new pathways to success, we work to challenge and change the systems that created inequity in the first place. The ripple effects of one young person realizing their full potential are impossible to measure but we can have no doubt about their long-term positive impact on that person and their community. And so, IYI is fully committed to creating as many of these ripples as possible.

Since 2009, the Center for Energy and Environmental Training (CEET) has trained more than 5,600 people, generating a labor force highly skilled to address global energy and environmental challenges.

CEET graduates will be able to actively engage in economic opportunities making older homes environmentally safe and healthy, and the numerous long-term projects that will be developed to build out an energy-efficient infrastructure. As a green-collar job training facility, CEET creates pathways to good-paying careers in energy efficiency and environmental health while also helping to improve the health and sustainability of our communities.

CEET provides industry-driven training that combines classroom learning, laboratory work, and field experience. As a Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified testing center, an EPA Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting provider, and a State of New Jersey Department of Health approved training facility that credentials lead abatement workers, our certifications are recognized throughout the United States. Our training serves unemployed and underemployed individuals seeking careers in green industries, workers looking to advance their skills, and employers seeking customized training for their teams.

CEET Courses List

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The consequences of elevated blood-lead levels reach far. Lead exposure dramatically lowers test scores and causes behavioral problems that make such children seven times more likely to become involved with the juvenile justice system. Meanwhile, energy inefficiency drives up utility costs for lower-income families and is now the second leading cause of homelessness. These are not isolated problems. They are interconnected challenges that demand a comprehensive response.

A CEET success story

From childhood home to community builder: Venice’s story

At 32, Venice Lluen was already five years into running the Peace of Mind Construction Group, the construction company she started in 2021. But, long before she became a licensed contractor, Venice was already connected with Isles.

When Venice was a child, her mother purchased their family home through an Isles first-time homebuyer assistance program. “I was younger then. I didn’t know much of what was going on,” she recalls, “But my mom explained this to me later, that Isles was the program that helped her achieve this goal.”

Years later, while working for the Trenton Housing Authority, Venice was referred to Isles’ Center for Energy and Environmental Training (CEET) to earn her EPA Lead Renovator certification. She connected with Andre Thomas, CEET’s Training Manager, and a powerful partnership was born. Venice quickly upgraded her credentials and those of her workers, after receiving the abatement training required for lead remediation work.

Today, Peace of Mind is a certified EPA lead remediation firm, taking on projects for Isles, United Way, the Mercer County Hispanic Association, Garden State Homes, and others — and is even renovating Isles’ own space on Wood Street.

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The partnership deepened when Venice became an employer through Isles’ Workforce Development program, hiring three apprentices to date, with a fourth on the way. As a single mother, her approach is deeply personal. “Every time Isles presents someone looking for a job, I always think of my son — how I would want someone to treat my child when he’s starting his career. I believe people deserve a second chance if they’re willing and serious. Someone has to be there to give them that chance.”

Looking ahead, Venice plans to purchase a headquarters in Trenton, hire local residents, and develop housing for a city that needs it. “I look at what I’m doing as bigger than me. Lifting them lifts me too. That’s how we rise, by raising each other up.” Andre Thomas echoes this sentiment: “Together we provide employment opportunities for the underserved while remediating homes, making them lead-safe and healthier.”

Why CEET matters

CEET is part of Isles’ broader vision for a community where everyone can grow and thrive. By training residents for careers that improve not only their own skills and earnings power but also the health of their neighborhoods, CEET connects education and job training with healthy homes and sustainable communities. Through training, home remediation, policy advocacy, and public education, we work to address these interconnected challenges and change the systems that create inequity in the first place.

The Isles Transportation Institute is a Green Technology–centered Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Training Center, designed to prepare participants for careers in the evolving transportation industry. This program integrates traditional CDL instruction with training on environmentally sustainable technologies, including fuel-efficient driving practices, alternative fuel vehicles, and emerging green logistics systems.

Our training model is student-focused and incorporates data-driven instructional practices to identify learning needs, tailor supports, and promote successful credential attainment for participants with varying skill levels and experiences.

By aligning workforce development with industry shifts toward sustainability, the training center will expand access to high-quality career pathways while supporting environmental responsibility. Participants will gain industry-recognized credentials, hands-on experience, and the skills needed to compete for in-demand jobs that contribute to a cleaner and more resilient economy. This initiative reflects Isles’ commitment to creating opportunities that support both economic mobility and long-term community sustainability.

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Why Isles Transportation Institute matters

The Isles Transportation Institute is part of Isles’ broader vision for a community where everyone can grow and thrive. Access to a driver’s license, let alone a commercial one, has long been out of reach for many residents facing economic barriers. The cost of CDL training alone can run about $5,000. By removing those barriers and additionally building in the green technology skills the industry increasingly demands, the ITI Training Center creates a direct pathway from our community to one of the most in-demand, well-paying careers available without a four-year degree. And because transportation is the backbone of commerce, a workforce trained to move goods more efficiently and more sustainably doesn’t just benefit the drivers themselves; it strengthens the broader economy and supports the environmental health of the communities they serve. This is how Isles approaches workforce development: not just as job training, but as a lever for lasting economic mobility and community resilience.