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Project CRAFT Training Draws Housing Industry Support
The Home Builders Institute's award-winning program for adjudicated youth — Project CRAFT (Community, Restitution, Apprenticeship-Focused Training) — continues to move forward in preparing young trainees for careers in the home building industry.
Along with HBI trustee Bill Paul, representatives from the program’s site in Orlando met recently with Beth McGee, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando, to increase the awareness of local builder members of Project CRAFT as a training resource in their community.
The HBA said that it will be providing coverage of the next CRAFT graduation in its member publication, and future graduations will be held at its headquarters.
On May 30, Project CRAFT/Orlando graduated six students. Five of them are under 18 years old and have returned to school to earn GED diplomas before entering the workforce.
The ceremony was attended by representatives from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Orange County Public Schools and the Orlando Sentinel, which covered the event and is currently working on a follow-up story on the graduates.
“We are excited to have the local HBA involved with Project CRAFT in any capacity and look forward to working with them in the future,” said Paul. “These builders will have the opportunity to see the great work Project CRAFT is doing and establish a direct pipeline to a future workforce.”
First Graduating Class in Hartford
Project CRAFT/Hartford, Conn. had its first graduating class in May.
The Hartford program was established in 2007 through a partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and a grant from the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
The University of Connecticut and NIH are monitoring the progress of students in the program and comparing their progress with the performance of non-CRAFT students.
The inaugural graduation ceremony was held at a community center in downtown Hartford and was attended by members of the Department of Children and Families and Court Support Service Division.
In a keynote address, Clarence Corbin, Hartford’s director of public works, cited “the important role of facilities maintenance personal” and encouraged the young graduates to apply for jobs with the city.
Project CRAFT has been recognized by members of the U.S. Congress as a model intervention program for adjudicated youth, and its graduates average an 85% job placement rate.
HBI, the workforce development arm of NAHB, operates Project CRAFT training programs at nine sites in Connecticut, Florida and Tennessee.
For more information on Project CRAFT, e-mail Dennis Torbett at HBI, or call him at 800-795-7955 x8908.
Home Builders Institute Offers New Program to Teach English to Spanish Speakers
Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition is an easy-to-use, take-home learning tool created by Home Builders Institute (HBI) to improve job site communication, construction quality and safety by teaching English to Spanish-speaking workers, who make up 25% of today’s construction industry workforce.
 Sponsored by Lowe’s Commercial Services, Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition was developed by a team of subject matter experts — including superintendents, craft skills experts, remodelers and builders — to ensure that its contents was relevant to today’s home building workforce. HBI also created a seventh book based entirely on the NAHB-OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook to address job site safety issues related to the language barrier.
 Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition uses proven LeapFrog technology to allow learners to listen, record and play back their pronunciation of more than 500 vocabulary words and 340 phrases. Participants who practice 30 minutes each day will complete the program in about five months. Learning at home, on their own time, also eliminates scheduling conflicts.
NAHB members can purchase the learning system, all seven books and a skills assessment to chart progress for $395 per kit. The non-member price is $495. Order today at www.seddesaberconstruction.com or at www.lowesforpros.com.
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