Building up Construction Students
Home Building Foundation’s Workforce Advisory Board went on a field trip to learn how builders can help construction teachers. The Board visited Riverside High School, a West Linn-Wilsonville high school of choice where students can study construction and architecture, business and marketing, and health occupations. Currently, freshmen through junior year students are enrolled. By next school year, teacher Jason Holt anticipates his senior construction and architecture students will be advanced enough to develop their own capstone projects. He encouraged industry leaders to come share their expertise in the classroom, or to develop on-the job training programs.
Pod Building Continues
Meantime, the prototype pod built by POIC for Cultivate Initiatives is wrapping up by early November. The fall cohort of POIC is learning many valuable lessons, such as installing tongue and groove siding and insulation as they finish the pod. Students at the construction pre-apprenticeship program began work on the pod this past summer with materials and guidance from HBF. The pod building is a pilot for a proposed Workforce Village for Cultivate Initiatives. The organization runs a robust menu of services for people who live in East Portland. This includes an “Intern” program, where they pay people leaving homelessness to work in the community. Cultivate Initiatives is seeking funding to fully develop a Village for its Interns on its headquarters property at 146th and Stark. HBF will next work with Portland Youth Builders to build a second prototype. We thank Parr Lumber and OrePac for donations to the prototype.
Education Partnership Program
In addition, HBF’s Education Partnership Program with local high schools is in full gear for the 2024-25 school year. We send out information to all of the 36 construction related programs in early fall. HBF provides materials and plans so students can build items that we deliver to our nonprofits serving people experiencing homelessness. Picnic tables, benches, sheds, and even bee houses have been built by students as a result of this collaborative program. Here are some of the projects shaping up for this academic year.
Roosevelt High
Aspiring architects at Roosevelt High will take on a unique challenge this school year. They toured the Kenton Women’s Village with Catholic Charities and HBF’s Chris McDowell to learn about the needs for a small office pod. The students will polish up their design, then the pod will be built by students. HBF has continued its involvement with Kenton Women’s Village since it was established during the Pod Building Challenge in 2019. Most recently, the Women’s Village underwent repairs and improvements with HBF during work parties with Taylor Smith, Brian Schmidt Builders, and Ridgecrest Custom Cabinetry.
WeShine St. Andrews Projects
Student at Reynolds Learning Academy, Grant, Gresham and Mountainside High Schools will all get out their hammers to help HBF’s project for WeShine. Storage benches will be built for all ten of the new pods. Meantime, students at Reynolds Learning Academy will be building raised beds for the new Village at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in the Portsmouth neighborhood. Additional projects are shaping up for the spring term as well, with a career exploration event in the works during the spring Home and Garden Show at the Expo Center February 20-23. We welcome your involvement in our workforce outreach. For further information, contact Teresa Spangler, Workforce Outreach Coordinator. Teresas@hbapdx.org