October 31, 2011
Nation's Building News

The Official Online Newspaper of NAHB

FONT SIZE:  A  A  A
Workforce Development
HBI New Orleans Volunteers Help Rebuild Two Homes Damaged by Hurricane Katrina
photo
HBI C-CORE volunteers helped repair the shotgun home of a senior during a rebuilding event in New Orleans earlier this month. During two consecutive weekends, volunteers from HBI’s Operation Reconstruct also helped repair a similar home damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

As part of Rebuilding Together New Orleans’ annual “Christmas in October” rebuilding effort, which has been underway since Hurricane Katrina devastated several parts of the city in 2005, volunteers from two Home Builders Institute (HBI) programs in New Orleans spent two weekends making needed repairs on shotgun homes owned by low-income seniors.

Twenty pairs of coaches and students from HBI’s C-CORE (Construction Coaching Opportunities to Reach Employment) mentoring program andtwo instructors and 11 students from HBI’s Operation Reconstruct built a fence, added staircase handrails, installed subfloors, repaired and finished wood and tile floors and painted the homes of an elderly woman and a couple who had to evacuate during the hurricane.

Operation Reconstruct is a partnership with the Jefferson Parish Workforce Investment Board and the Paxen Learning Corporation, a private, for-profit corporation that specializes in accelerated education, training and curriculums for at-risk youths and adults.

While working on the homes, one of the program leaders, Marty Grissom, of Operation Reconstruct, and several students were interviewed by a television reporter from WDSU-TV in New Orleans about their volunteer efforts.

HBI — the workforce development arm of NAHB — provides training, mentoring, curriculum development and job placement services in support of the housing industry.

An integral part of HBI programming is teaming with organizations such as Rebuilding Together New Orleans in order to provide on-the-job service and learning opportunities that help build students’ confidence while helping rebuild their communities.

HBI C-CORE is a national mentoring program that pairs young adults who are interested in working in the construction industry with adult coaches who offer them career guidance and teach industry skills. C-CORE has partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters in New Orleans to match coaches and students.

HBI Operation Reconstruct — which boasts an 80% job placement rate for its graduates — provides life skills, construction training and certification for adjudicated youths, giving them an opportunity to turn their lives around while also acquiring valuable job skills.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot,” said Damon Larkin, an HBI Operation Reconstruct student. “And the program has helped me with all the things I want to do.”

Grissom, along with his son, Roger Grissom of HBI C-CORE in New Orleans, organized the HBI volunteer assignments for the October renovation effort.

For more information, email Dennis Torbett at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8908.

Also in This Issue