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Project CRAFT Students Join Katrina Relief Efforts
Responding to the need for emergency labor in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, students in the Home Builders Institute's (HBI) Project CRAFT/Mississippi have been working tirelessly to improve living conditions in their home state.
Recently entering into its second year, the CRAFT site in Jackson, Miss. is funded by the state’s Department of Human Services, Division of Youth Services. Project CRAFT (Community, Restitution, Apprenticeship-Focused Training) provides construction skills training and job placement services for adjudicated juveniles.
Program coordinator Kevin Polk has been in contact with local relief authorities and has been working closely with Rev. John E. Cameron, Sr. and the Greater Mount Calvary Community Development Corporation to find creative ways to put the skills of his students to good use during difficult times for Gulf Coast residents.
Students continue to help load and unload supply trucks, remove fallen trees and clear space for temporary housing for displaced families.
In a unique project, CRAFT trainees are helping the Jackson Animal Rescue League build doghouses to shelter displaced pets until they are reunited with their owners, who had to evacuate without them, or they find new permanent homes.
“Obviously, helping people is the first priority for everyone, but everything in this area was affected by Katrina and even the animals here can use our goodwill,” said Polk. “The doghouse project has been great for our students. They get to use their carpentry building skills and get a chance to give back to the community by helping some defenseless and frightened animals.”
A close partner with Project CRAFT/Mississippi, the Home Builders Association of Jackson and its executive officer, Bob McKay, have been staying in close contact with the program and facilitating materials donations in support of the students’ recovery efforts. In the latest of those donations, Dantone Construction Co. in Brandon provided 25 sheets of plywood for the doghouses.
Plans are also underway for the students to work with Habitat for Humanity in reconstruction projects being planned throughout the Gulf area.
Project CRAFT has received congressional recognition as a model intervention program designed to provide adjudicated youths with the skills they need to move forward with their lives through careers in the home building industry.
HBI, the workforce development arm of NAHB, operates Project CRAFT training programs at seven sites in Florida, New Jersey, Tennessee and Mississippi.
For more information on Project CRAFT/Mississippi, e-mail Dennis Torbett at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8908.
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