On a sweltering 96-degree afternoon in July, Benjamin Kinds and Waltdarius Brown measure and cut sheets of plywood outside a Baptist Town home.
The young men are part of the Energy Efficiency and Skills Development Initiative, a paid internship program pairing young people who want to learn the construction trade with homeowners needing help with repairs.
The program started July 5 and ends today with an open house at the Baptist Town Community Center. Seven construction apprentices will be at the open house with resumes in hand, hoping to meet prospective employers and interested community members.
The initiative is the brain-child of Richard Elliott and Emily Roush-Elliott, co-owners of Design Build Solutions in Greenwood.
“This is a first-time pilot program that we want to see continue,” Elliott said. “Paid internships are often overlooked in lower-income areas.”
Indeed, job training is often overlooked as well. The husband-and-wife team, who worked over the last three-and-a-half years on the project to add Katrina cottages in Baptist Town, agree that a significant element driving unemployment in Greenwood is the shortage of skilled workers.
To that end, they have applied their knowledge of building and energy efficiency — Roush-Elliott is a LEED-certified architect — with the need for skilled construction workers and the need for jobs among young people.
Design Build Solutions partnered with the Greenwood-Leflore Fuller Center for Housing and Baptist Town Community Development to get the program off the ground. The Fuller Center offered a model for home repair and an application pool of households needing work, and the Baptist Town organization managed the application process. Elliott is the program director and lead instructor.
The program saw 27 applications for seven slots and identified 10 homes needing energy upgrades and two needing more complicated rehab work.
Of particular concern are households burdened by high energy bills due to air infiltration. The problem can be eased significantly with simple energy upgrades including weather stripping, caulking, door sweeps and other air improvement materials.
The two rehab projects, each of which took three days to complete, included fixing roof leaks and holes in floors or walls, adjusting doors and making other necessary improvements.
Homeowners received the energy upgrades and rehab work at no charge.
The two rehab projects were in Baptist Town, and the energy upgrades, identified through Fuller Center applications, were scattered throughout Greenwood.
Beyond basic construction skills, the apprentices also received training in essential work skills.
“Over the first two weeks we did classroom work, things like resume building and personal branding,” Elliott said. “It’s important to understand what people are looking for.”
The apprentices worked on personal budgets and talked about living expenses, helping them to understand how much they’ll make as full-time employees and figuring in the costs of working, Elliott said.
Design work and computer modeling also figured into the program, giving the apprentices a bigger picture of the possibilities of the construction industry.
They will come to the open house with resumes printed and ready to be mailed, handed out or emailed to any interested employers.
Elliott said he’s talked to a number of people already who have expressed interest in the program, including Kenneth R. Thompson Jr. Builder, RC Construction, Pure Air and Milwaukee Electric Tool.
“It’s been overall really good,” said Elliott. “It’s a rough time of year to start working outside, but overall this group has worked really hard, and I feel we’ve had a really positive impact.”
Those who participated fully in the program and met all requirements were paid $1,000 stipends and are guaranteed at least one job interview.
The open house will be this afternoon from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Baptist Town Community Center, 200 McCain St.
Elliott extended an open invitation to anyone who can come.
“If they can’t make it, they’re welcome to contact us,” he said. “We all want them to get a job.”
For more information, contact Richard Elliott at 452-0149 or email richard@deltadb.org.
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
