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Endowment Awards $25,000 in 'Challenge' Grants to Six HBAs
 The National Housing Endowment, the philanthropic arm of NAHB, recently awarded nearly $25,000 to six local home builders associations through the Challenge/Build/Grow matching funds initiative.
Since the program was launched in 2001, almost $125,000 has been awarded to HBAs to support local initiatives ranging from education to land use and labor shortage/worker training.
“Building homes for the nation is too important a priority to neglect the education and training that will be needed to support the residential construction industry,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 2002 NAHB president. “Through the Challenge/Build/Grow Matching Grant Initiative as well as other grants, the endowment is answering the call by meeting the industry's long-term challenges with bold thinking and action.”
The 2007 recipients are:
Education Programs
The HBA of Marion and Polk Counties was awarded $4,300 for “Nailing Down the Future,” a joint program with the Salem-Keizer School District designed to provide students with the training necessary to not only complete building projects during high school, but to have the skills necessary to enter into the construction trade or pursue further training immediately after high school.
The Missoula BIA was awarded $4,300 for Building Futures, a school/community partnership that provides skill-building activities to Missoula youth during non-school hours. Building Futures links students with professionals in the building industry who act as mentors while also providing hands-on skills and techniques allowing students to complete a marketable product. The BIA works with the Flagship program on this endeavor.
The Southern Utah HBA was awarded $4,283 for its “Break Barriers, Bridge Gaps and Build Futures” program designed to teach English to Spanish speakers as well as Spanish to English speakers working in the construction industry. The goal of the program is to empower workers by improving communication between employers and employees, which would also improve job safety and productivity.
The Southern Tier HBRA was awarded $4,300 for its “Youth Construction Academy,” a collaboration with Broome Community College to provide week-long residential and remodeling classes for students ages 14 to 20. During the class, the students learn about the entire remodeling/building process from initial client contact through designing, pricing, selling and building or remodeling a home.
Labor Shortage/Worker Training Programs
Big Horn was awarded $3,440 for its collaboration with Sheridan College Construction Technology and the Sheridan Housing Action Committee to bring affordable workforce housing to a real estate market that has doubled in value since 2001 while training students in the construction process and allowing graduates to enter the job market at a high level of expertise and skill.
The BIA of Lancaster County was awarded $4,300 to support the Spanish American Civic Association’s (SACA) YouthBuild, a year-long program for low-income youths ages 18 to 24 who split their time between the classroom and a construction site in order to earn their GEDs or high school diplomas while also learning to build affordable housing for low-income families.
For more information about National Housing Endowment grant opportunities, or to download funding guidelines, visit www.nationalhousingendowment.org.
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