Women in Construction

The WiCC Story

An Economic Justice Project

In May 2001 Women's Transitional Housing Coalition, Inc. (WTHC) a non-profit housing developer and service provider in Duluth initiated a new program with 3 primary goals:

1. to teach women construction skills,

2. to utilize women crews to work on renovation and new construction projects, and

3. to assist women in entering jobs that pay livable wages.

During the first year WTHC raised funds for the project, worked on developing a hands-on training curriculum, and identified projects that women could work on to gain skills that would lead to jobs in the construction trades.

WTHC staff also approached local job training programs asking them to refer women to the project. The City of Duluth, The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and NEMOJT all came on board and began referring low-income women they were working with to the project for work experience. Women who came in through the job training programs were paid through the job training programs for 400+ hours of training.

First-time WiCC rooferDuring the first year, the women who entered the WTHC's Women in Construction Training Program, worked on a variety of projects including:

* working with a local construction company to build a $250,000 home;

* removing a tar and gravel flat roof and installing a new rubber membrane roof;

* working on a Habitat for Humanity home;

* and siding a duplex for Northern Communities Land Trust.

By the end of the first year over 20 women were involved in the project and there was a waiting list for new women interested in joining the project.

In February of 2002, WTHC raised $300,000 to renovate 37 units of its transitional housing units; this included a large single family home, 13 SRO units and 23 2-3-bedroom apartments. The funding for the project came from Minnesota Housing Finance Agency who agreed to allow the Women in Construction Training Program to perform all the renovation. The renovation project was extensive and included:

* installing replacement windows and doors;

* patching and painting;

* refinishing wood floors,

* installing ceramic tile floors,

* tub surrounds and fireplace surrounds;

* installing kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities;

as well as other work.

WiCC worker on the Katsangeo ProjectThis project ran from May to December of 2002. Simultaneously, the training program crews began building a 3 bedroom single family home for Northern Communities Land Trust. Crews began construction on the 2-story home in June and completed the project by late November. Women crews performed all construction on the house with the exception of the excavation, basement, plumbing, electrical and sheetrock.

As the renovation and new construction projects were underway, WTHC purchased 2 additional buildings, a single-family house and an apartment building with five large family units. Both buildings were in need of extensive renovation, so WTHC again raised the money to renovate the buildings and again utilized the training project to do the work. This project started April 1, 2003 and will be completed by October 31, 2003.

Although still under the umbrella of WTHC, the training project has grown and expanded to include:

Lindy's DreamBUILDERS

In August of 2001 ten women from the Women in Construction Training Program began meeting to form a construction business. They wrote a grant to the Presbyterian Church - Self Development of People Fund and were awarded $150,000 over a three year period to develop their business. The goal of the project is to create leadership, work in community with each other, and to work as part of a team with Women's Transitional Housing Coalition and the Women in Construction Training Program to build and renovate housing for low-income families. An additional goal is to support each other in developing women-owned companies in a wide-variety of construction trades.

Lindy's DreamBUILDERS was named after Lindy Askelin, a woman who spent her adult life working in Duluth as one of the few women carpenters and cabinet-makers. Lindy died of breast cancer in 1996 and the group chose to honor her and other women who worked in construction and paved the way for women today to pursue careers in the construction field.

Home Girls

In 2001 WTHC received a grant from the Women's Foundation of Minnesota and the W. Glen Boyd Foundation to develop a construction related program that would work specifically with girls and young women. This initiative is called "Girls Best" and the goal is to provide outreach and education to girls about construction as a career. The young women involved in the Women in construction Training Program have developed a speaker's bureau, a training program specific to working with girls and young women and is planning on holding a state-wide conference in fall of 2003. During the summer of 2002, over 20 young women (ages 14-21) worked on job sites with women crews, gaining a variety of experiences.

Energy Audits

In the summer of 2002, through a contract with Minnesota Power, several women were trained as energy auditors. This provided jobs for women and a source of income for WTHC. The auditors work with local landlords to provide their tenants with an audit of their energy consumption and recommends ways of cutting their energy costs. MN Power provides incentives including: new refrigerators, microwaves, light bulbs and aerators.

Painting in WiCC ShopWomen in Construction Company LLC

In the fall of 2002, in order to continue to work on projects funded by MHFA and the City of Duluth, the Women in Construction Training Program's Coordinator got her contractor's license and set up a limited liability corporation that was a subsidiary of Women's Transitional Housing Coalition and still under their non-profit status. This company hired all the women in the Training Program and began bidding on work in the community, new women continue to come in for training, but the training component is now part of the business. In addition to renovation and new construction, the company has set up a cabinet shop and training center. The cabinet shop will be utilized to build 6 new kitchens for the WTHC renovation project starting in April, and it will also be used for women to design and build furniture.

How We Work - (fighting barriers for women in the construction trades)

This project is based on the belief that people learn best from hands on experience and on-the-job training. It is also our belief that the project should prioritize low-income women who want to learn a skill that can help them become self-sufficient. Additionally we want to work on renovating and building housing that will benefit low-income individuals and families.

Due to the many barriers women face when entering so-called "non-traditional" jobs our program works hard to create a supportive, non-threatening environment in which women can learn without fear of harassment or ridicule. With so few women in the construction trades and women not wanting to be the only women on construction sites our goal is to assist women to develop their own business in a variety of areas such as: ceramic tile, wood floor refinishing, landscaping, and cabinet shop. The Company will function as a business capable of employing 12-15 women and training an additional 6-12 women each year.

The project employs only two people with long-term experience, a project coordinator with 25 years experience in housing development, construction management and administration, and a construction trainer/supervisor with 25 years experience as a carpenter in the field and woodworker in a cabinet shop. As needed, we hire additional experienced trainers to work with women. For instance, last summer when we had the renovation project and the new construction project going at the same time, we contracted with the construction instructor from Lake Superior College to manage, train and supervise our crews. When we decided to refinish the wood floors in the transitional housing units, we worked with a local company who provided us with equipment, supplies and training and when women wanted to install ceramic tile floors rather than vinyl, we hired an experienced tile installer to train our crews. This has proven to be cost effective and very efficient. When a woman is trained in a certain area, she is expected to train and supervise new women coming into the project. Funds are raised every year to provide women with tools and work clothes. Currently (as of mid-summer 2003) there are fifteen women on the payroll with Women in Construction.

For information about our Women's Transitional Housing Coalition, Inc. and Home Girls, contact: Deyona Kirk, 218-728-6437 or email th@wthc.org

For information about the Women in Construction Company LLC, the Training Program and Lindy's DreamBUILDERS, contact Michelle LeBeau, 218-733-1451 or email michelle@womenworking.org