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Welding Job Offers Bright Future for Project HOPE Grad
A recent enrollee in the Home Builders Institute's (HBI) Project HOPE (Homebuilding Opportunities for Positive Employment), Shanda Averill said the program was “a stabilizing force in her life” after its staff members “went beyond the call of duty” and helped her find steady employment at a wage that would enable her to support herself and her son David.
Averill had temporarily relinquished custody of her child until she could improve her dire financial situation. Determined to reunite her family, she contacted Project HOPE to assist her in finding a job in the constructiion industry.
Through Project HOPE's direct referral program, Averill worked with the HOPE staff to find a position with the American Spiral Weld Pipe Company, which was looking for an employee with her welding skills. Averill’s starting salary was nearly $15 per hour and she is approaching her one-year anniversary with the company.
Averill’s supervisor, David Stuckey, says that the entire company has been extremely impressed with her welding skills and that “she is smart, a hard worker, definitely an asset to our company and if I was asked to rate her performance, I would rate it a 10.”
Averill’s job stability has allowed her to focus on earning her Welder 3 certificate and most importantly has reunited her with her nine-year-old son.
Project HOPE opened in South Carolina in 2005 with funding from a three-year Projects With Industry (PWI) grant. In 2008, the U.S. Department of Education funded the program for five additional years, which allowed HBI to partner with grant recipient, the Home Builders Association of Greater Columbia.
The $1.8 million grant will provide PACT and job placement assistance for 75 students annually at a recently built training facility in downtown Columbia. HBI is focusing on bringing military veterans, youths and those in community corrections into the program.
The grant’s renewal has allowed HBI to subcontract with the HBA of Greater Columbia, which has been a key component in the program’s success. In the latest phase of the project, members of the association are expanding their role in providing job leads and work-based learning opportunities for the trainees.
“The HBA of Greater Columbia is proud to partner with HBI on Project HOPE,” said Executive Officer Earl McLeod. “Inspirational stories such as Shanda’s occur regularly in Project HOPE and further affirm our commitment to the program.”
Additional grant partners include the HBA of South Carolina, South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department, the South Carolina Department of Corrections, the Watkins Pre-Release Center, the Richland One School District and the Lower Midlands Workforce Center/One Stop.
As part of HBI’s Workforce Training and Employment (WTE) Department, Project HOPE has helped more than 600 disabled workers in industry-related jobs and careers.
HBI has previously operated Project HOPE programs in Columbus, Ohio and Denver.
For more information on Project HOPE and the Building Advisory Council, e-mail Dennis Torbett at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8908.
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