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Grant Aids Florida Students at Future Builders Camp
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Two students hard at work under the Florida palm trees at the Future Builders of America builders leadership training camp last summer. |
 Eleven students sponsored by the Charlotte Desoto Building Industry Association, of Port Charlotte, Fla., recently attended the Future Builders of America Summer Leadership Training Camp to learn about becoming a contractor and receive hands-on training in carpentry, masonry, computer-aided design (CAD), business etiquette and other skills necessary for starting careers in home building.
The students were able to attend the leadership training camp through a $3,100 Challenge/Build/Grow matching grant initiative from the National Housing Endowment. Through the initiative, local and state home builders associations can receive matching grants of up to $5,000 to bolster their education and labor shortage/worker training programs.
The Charlotte-area students were among more than 80 students from three southwest Florida area high schools attending the camp. All the students who attended are enrolled in post-secondary courses in both construction technology and architectural drafting. The camp was held June 12-14.
“The Future Builders of America Summer Leadership Camp was an absolute success and an experience our students would never have had without this grant from the National Housing Endowment,” said Debbie Emmons, a Future Builders of America state delegate with the Charlotte Desoto BIA. “Many of the students who attended from our area are now working in the construction industry and others are continuing their education in the drafting or construction fields at area technical schools and universities.”
“Building homes for the nation is too important a priority to neglect the education and training that will be needed to support the residential construction industry,” said Gary Garczynski, endowment chairman and 2002 NAHB president. “Through the Challenge/Build/Grow matching grant initiative as well as other grants, the endowment is answering the call by meeting the industry's long-term challenges with bold thinking and action.”
Since Challenge/Build/Grow began in 2001, the endowment has awarded more than $165,000 to state and local associations nationwide to support local education and land use and labor shortages/worker training initiatives and to help build new partnerships that the state and local levels.
For more information about endowment grant or scholarship opportunities, visit www.nationalhousingendowment.org.
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Some of the more than 80 students who attended the builders leadership training camp in southwest Florida. |
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