The United States has a housing deficit. One reason for the gap: a lack of workers in the construction industry.
Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont and the Lennar Foundation are working in North Carolina to expand pathways to skilled careers in the construction trades.
In June, a new cohort of more than 200 participants graduated from the program, ready to build.
Mutual benefits: personal purpose and stronger communities
Through a tuition-free, 10-week Construction Basics Training program, the most recent graduates earned a National Center for Construction Education and Research CORE Level 1 certification and an Occupational Safety and Health Administration 10 certification. The program addresses the basics of safety, hand and power tools, construction math, materials handling, construction drawings, rigging, and more.
The Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) provides support for the Construction Basics Training Program. In addition to that program, graduates completed a 14-week course covering one of the following specialties: HVAC, electrical, carpentry, blueprint reading and estimating, building automation systems, or certified apartment maintenance.
“We cannot build in America without skilled workers,” said CKF Vice President for Future of Work Laura Demarse. “When experts in the industry like the Lennar Foundation come together with training providers like Goodwill, we can address labor gaps, strengthen communities, and offer residents jobs that provide both a paycheck and a purpose.”
Construction skills are not the only thing students get out of the program. Goodwill Career Navigators helped students assess their strengths, establish goals, develop resumes, and prepare for job interviews. Goodwill’s Family Stability team provided resources to partner organizations that offer food, transportation, healthcare, and housing. Participants also had access to essential skills training and, with the help of the Building Talent Foundation, are being placed in construction jobs.
Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont: a record of results
Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont’s broader tuition-free Construction and Trades Training Program, which includes six modules in addition to the Construction Basics Training Program, launched in 2007. Since then:
- 91% of immersive program participants successfully completed the course and graduated;
- 90% of people who graduated with wraparound support are still employed six months later; and
- Graduates with wraparound support earn an average wage of $23.10.
Goodwill will host information sessions for the Construction Basics Training program on Aug. 5, Sept. 9, Oct. 7, and Nov. 11. Learn more.
CKF has a vision for a society in which businesses succeed by creating the conditions necessary to empower employees and help them live lives of purpose and contribution.
Learn more about our efforts to redefine the Future of Work.