The development and operation of the Federally funded Ventures in Community Improvement Demonstration Project (VICI) and its impact on participant youths and communities are summarized in this report. VICI's purposes were (1) to provide young, minority, inner-city, high school dropouts with intensive skills training in the workplace that could serve as a stepping stone to unsubsidized jobs and apprenticeships in the construction trades, and (2) to provide community improvements through rehabilitation of public facilities and repairs of low income housing. Chapters I and II describe the program model and its implementation. Chapter III presents the work valuation methodology that was created to assess the dollar value of the work products and the results of applying this methodology. Chapter IV provides a detailed summary of various analyses of VICI's impact on the labor market experiences of participating youth; comparisons are drawn with a HUD demonstration and selected Youth Community Conservation and Community Improvement (YCCIP) programs. Chapter V discusses the cost-effectiveness of the VICI program, while the final chapter summarizes major findings and their implications. The evaluation concludes that the project met with success in both of its major objectives. Appendices consist of a compendium of interim ICI reports, a short discussion of the role of the intermediary (Public/Private Ventures) in VICI, and a summary of the program characteristics of VICI, HUD, and construction YCCIPs selected for follow-up study. (CMG)