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Patsy Smith Fund Continues to Build Construction Careers
Patsy Smith, a board member of the Home Builders Institute (HBI), has donated an additional $10,000 to the National Housing Endowment to build on the success of The Patsy and Herman Smith Fund for Excellence in the Trades.
While chairman of HBI in 2005, Smith established the fund with an initial $10,000 donation to the National Housing Endowment for the purpose of providing direct support to HBI and its training programs under the Workforce Training and Employment (WTE) umbrella.
WTE continues to grow, now housing 19 trades training programs, including Operation Reconstruct, a Hurricane Katrina relief effort with sites in New Orleans and Gulfport, Miss. Training more than 1,000 people annually, WTE programs focus on special populations such as the displaced and unemployed in the Gulf region, at-risk and troubled youth, people with disabilities, offenders and veterans.
Despite strong demand for labor in the housing industry and the expansion of WTE, these federally and state-funded programs have been constrained by funding cuts, escalating costs and limited resources, and HBI has been unable to fully address the needs of its training participants.
The Patsy and Herman Smith Fund addresses these problems by delegating money to supply and equip classrooms and shops, enhance student training through industry activities, assist program graduates in their transition into the industry and help students continue their education if they wish to do so.
Married for 44 years to the late Herman Smith, who was a former NAHB president and prominent land developer and philanthropist, Patsy Smith has been a long-time supporter of HBI’s multi-faceted initiatives to address the industry’s need for workers in the skilled trades.
“I always considered the skilled trades the most critical piece of the real estate development world. We need people to build and repair the homes. Without them, our dreams stay on paper and what’s more, so do those of the people who want to own a home,” said Smith. “I feel fortunate to be able to assist HBI and its programs that give people the skills to build homes while they rebuild their lives.”
Smith was inspired to establish the fund after visiting WTE programs and seeing the critical personal needs of students in the trades during their training and job placement.
Her decision to establish the fund was inspired by Lowe’s Home Improvement, which renewed its commitment to HBI’s Job Corps students through a $50,000 contribution to the HBI/Lowe’s Building Careers Scholarship program. To date, Lowe’s has committed $200,000 to the Building Careers Scholarship fund.
The workforce development arm of NAHB, HBI has helped more than 250,000 people enter careers in the home building industry. Its programs provide skills in the building trades for people of all ages, promote career opportunities in the industry and help meet the labor needs of the residential construction industry.
For more information on the Patsy and Herman Smith Fund for Excellence in the Trades, e-mail Maria McIntyre at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8912. For information on HBI’s Workforce Training and Employment programs, contact Dennis Torbett, x8908.
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