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Award-Winning Construction Training Program Expanding in Mississippi

Project CRAFT (Community, Restitution, Apprenticeship-Focused Training) is off to a successful start in Jackson, MS, following an agreement in May between Donald Taylor, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, and NAHB President Bobby Rayburn to start up the award-winning Home Builders Institute (HBI) program in that area.

Under a short-term agreement with MDHS, eight 16- to18-year-olds are currently receiving pre-apprenticeship, industry-validated training in Jackson in preparation for jobs in the local home building industry.

The program has already proved to be so successful that MDHS has signed an additional one-year agreement to train 20 more youths from the state’s Rankin, Madison, Hinds and Warren Counties.

“It would have been a tragedy to see a program that is an asset to the community, the youth it trains and the industry that employs them suddenly end,” said John Travis, of Travis Construction and president of the HBA of Jackson. “It isn’t often you can point to a training program for kids or adults, and honestly say — hey, this one does work.”

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Another component of Project CRAFT is public service in which students take time out from their instruction at the center to help the community.

Project CRAFT is the first program of its kind in the area, providing at-risk youth with a second chance, and community leaders have welcomed the effort, including this recognition: “I, Johnny Price, county youth judge of Warren County, Mississippi, am pleased that Project CRAFT does offer great opportunities for the youth in my county.”

Recognized by Congress as a national model in training and job placement for at-risk youth, Project CRAFT currently operates in Florida, Texas and New Jersey with funding from state agencies, such as MDHS. In Tennessee, the program is funded by a Youth Reintegration Program grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

For more information on Project CRAFT/Jackson, e-mail Dennis Torbett at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8908.
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