Smart Living: Boosting numbers of women in construction
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The face of construction is changing.
Now, more women are putting on a hard hat and joining the construction industry.
Recent data shows, women now make up 10 percent of the industry; that's doubled in the last decade.
"When you start doing something that you are not expected to be able to do, there is definitely an empowerment that happens," Founder and CEO of Hope Renovations, Nora El-Khouri Spencer said.
Spencer's goal is to give women the confidence to pursue high-paying, mostly male dominated, jobs.
"When you run that power tool for the first time, and you realize, number one, it's not that hard, and number two, it feels awesome to have that kind of power and to be able to create with it, watching that happen is, it's really, really miraculous," Spencer said
Spencer started Googling DYI repairs and fell in love with the feeling. She left her Fortune 500 human resources job and opened the non-profit Hope Renovations in North Carolina.
She wanted to give people, like 18-year-old Clair, a way to quickly be educated in a field that would give her a life-sustaining and fulfilling career.
"If you're just an entry level person, you can get up to $60 and $70,000 a year, which is like double what I'm making," Clair said.
For Lucia Foster, it's a second chance after long COVID forced her to end her career at Duke University.
"The idea that I could learn tangible skills and in a network of support where I really could be not just encouraged to succeed but lifted," Foster said.
Another part of the mission, the students and graduates, do repairs and renovations to help seniors age in place.
"There's an intention to lift women up and help us engage in a way that's respectful and helps everyone," Foster said.
The program lasts for nine weeks and is completely free, and it also offers a living stipend to participants.
Construction services are offered on a sliding scale, so they can serve clients no matter their income.
Their $2 million budget comes from donors, grants and corporate partners.
Hope Renovations also just became one of seven organizations selected for the U.S. Department of Labors Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations Grant worth more than $700,000.
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